


Child of Darkness

by b0rnbackwards



Category: Original Work
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2018-11-19 10:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11311221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b0rnbackwards/pseuds/b0rnbackwards
Summary: Arabella just turned sixteen and that means she can take part in the competition that selects new recruits for the Royal Guard of Agros. When the competition goes south she sees herself in a dangerous situation, and is saved by a childhood friend she had not seen in years, only to discover he is actually the prince of Agros. After a life endangering situation, Arabella discovers the presence of a dark power lurking beneath her skin; a power that can change not just herself and her life, but the world around her. But that power also puts a target on her back, and with enemies closing in from all sides, she has to balance fighting for herself and for those she loves, while uncovering the secrets of her real bloodline.





	1. A girl

**Author's Note:**

> I am so very nervous to post this and put all of my babies out there! I sure hope everyone enjoys!

She took a deep breath as she took in all the boys around her. They were of every color and size, every social level, every part of the kingdom. But they were all boys. She thought she would turn heads, hear the sound of shocked gasps, but as she walked across the rented warehouse to the man sitting at the back of it taking the names of the contestants, no one noticed her presence. The ones that did seem to see her there must have thought she was a maid or something, because she was not awarded a second glance. Another deep breath, and she was standing before the man she knew to be the captain of the royal guard. This building and this man were no strangers to her. She came every year and watched from the door as boys did the same thing she was about to do, one after the other. She had rehearsed a thousand times since she was eleven for this exact moment. He didn’t even look up from the papers as he addressed her. 

“Name?”

It took her every bit of courage in her being to answer. She concentrated all that courage in a tiny spot in her chest, and as she said her name, it sounded strange and wrong. Like she didn’t belong there. She could bet that most, if not all, the men and boys present certainly thought she didn’t.

“Arabella Santori.” 

He looked up at her with shock written all over his face, like he was seeing a ghost. Her breath came out shaky, and she just wanted to leave before the actually starting shaking from head to toe.

“You’re a girl,” he said. Not a question, but not an answer. 

“Yes, I am,” she answered, gesturing to her body. He looked at her for a while longer, as if trying to get used to the idea. She prepared herself to be rejected, her hands balling into fists. And then he dismissed her with a wave of his hand, writing down her name on the book. She turned away and almost ran out the door, trying not to give him time to change his mind. 

Naturally, she would not join the boys waiting inside the warehouse. Not because they were boys, but because those boys inside had been trained for this. Some of them needed to pass the test to help their families or to try to rise in station, but the boys outside were untrained and unprepared, just trying to get one shot at leaving their miserable lives, exactly like Arabella. She was one of them, a street raised kid with nothing to lose and everything to gain. She stepped outside to the smell of sweat that marked the peak of summer, the sun almost blinding her. At least sweat was the only smell around in this fancy neighborhood. Where she was from, the trash cooked in the sun and made the air thick with it’s sickening smell. This, though, was one of the neighborhood where the riches dwelled, where the biggest training center was located. The training centers were kind of clubs for the rich kids, where they could pay to train alongside the nobility and pretend they were also of high birth. The training center of this neighborhood was enormous, and it was used every year for the royal guard tests. The warehouse where they signed up for it was two blocks away, but she could she the center clearly in the distance, all the equipment already set for the contest. The test consisted of three phases: the endurance test, which was basically running and then running with obstacles; the fitness test, which consisted of things such as weight lifting and hand-on-hand sparring; and the duels, which was a sword and knife fight that cut the number of contestants in half, leaving the guard with their number of new recruits. Passing the test did not mean that you got to be part of the guard, though. All the recruits went through three months of training and education and in the end the ones who did become guards were handpicked by the sergeants and the captain. Bella wondered if she would ever get as far as being a recruit, and if she would be chosen if she did. Probably not. 

“Bella!” 

The voice that pulled her from her thoughts came from her old friend, Tulius Ferrara. Bella knew he’d be rooting for her all the time, even if he was taking the test himself. 

“Hey Tulius. Shouldn’t you be waiting inside with the others?” 

The other rich kids, was what she wanted to add bitterly. But it wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t poor. He was nice and had a heart of gold, as did the rest of his family, and he never treated her like less; in fact, his father helped her out giving her jobs all the time in the market, and paying a bit more than he did others who also carried his merchandise around the city. “Trust can’t be bought, but it can be well compensated,” he used to say when she complained about it. She had stopped doing so years ago. Tulius also helped her with her dream of becoming part of the royal guard, often calling her to train with him when she could spare the time. She rarely could, though, so she wasn’t nearly as good as he was with a sword, even though her father also did his best to teach her in his condition.

“I don’t like them,” he said, once again taking her from her own internal monologue. “They think they’re better than me because their parents were born with money and mine weren’t.” 

Bella hummed her agreement. Riches and nobles thought they were better than everyone else for any reason they could find. She would bet with no fear of losing that they even thought they were better than the Battaglias, the royal family of their realm. Especially since the king had changed the kingdom for good by giving the queen the crown matrimonial and making it clear that were they to have daughters, they could inherit the throne same as their sons. The commons lived with the idea that men and women carry exactly the same responsibilities and capabilities for centuries, but the nobles? Not so fond of the idea. 

That had enforced an idiotic tradition: girls in the lower classes started to get married off to riches and nobles so their families may rise in station, instead of the hard work and growing through the ranks of the military or getting into the higher social circles by being good merchants. That, men could still do, but women didn’t, not anymore. 

Tulius nudged her with his elbow, making her stop staring at nothing and look at him. 

“There’s someone who wants to see you in the alley,” he said, pointing at a small alley between two fancy townhouses across the street from them. Bella stalked toward it, already knowing who it was, but when she got there, she saw no one.The alley was dark even in summer, the gigantic houses making sure it was covered in shadows. It was actually a relief, since the shadows made it cooler than out in the sun. She saw a water pump in the back, and figured she should drink some while she waited. She reached for it, and stopped dead as she heard a voice behind her. 

“Nervous?” 

She let out a sigh of relief as she recognized Rhea Ferrara’s voice. She turned around to see her small, curvy figure leaning against the wall. 

“Do you want to give me a heart attack?” She complained, getting a low laugh from Rhea, who raised her hands in surrender. 

“Of course not. I just wanted to wish you good luck.”

She walked toward Bella, a smile on her face. They embraced each other easily, Bella’s arms closing around the curve of her waist like second nature. 

“Thank  you,” said Bella, actually thankful for her presence. She could feel her heart calm down more and more. She kissed Rhe lightly, thinking this would be much easier if she could have her there. 

“You can do this. Go beat those kid’s asses.” 

Another kiss, this time full of her intentions for when Bella was done, and she left. Bella took deep breaths and moved again to get some water. She would have to find a way not to let her nerves come into play. 

It was difficult, though. Because her father used to be in the guard, until an accident lost him his legs, and he couldn’t work anymore. Their financial situation god bad after that, and so, since she was eleven, she decided that she would follow in her father’s steps and make a good living for her family. Then she started helping her mom out by making deliveries for Hagan Ferrara, a man who was also from her neighborhood but had made a name for himself as a merchant. He gave Bella clothes so she could easily navigate in the richer places of the city, and the lifting and carrying helped her build muscle, but she had little time for training if she wanted to make some money, so she relied on the sword wielding lessons her father tried his best to give her every night, and on his advices that she always heard. Her father started sharing her dream once he came to terms with the idea of a girl fighting in the royal guard, and now he had placed all his hopes on her. That meant she had to give her everything to this test, since she only had three chances, and a lot of the kids (including Tullius) had trained their whole lives for this. She jumped around to release some energy and calm down, and as she walked back to the gathering of boys around the warehouse, she told herself she could do this, and believed it. 


	2. A boy

Corvin Battaglia had been summoned first thing in the morning to his mother’s office. He left the boy whose name he didn’t remember in his bed and instructed the servants to escort him to whatever he came from. He didn’t have breakfast, mostly because he felt nauseous from his massive hangover. The previous night had been the celebration of his eighteenth birthday, and his parents had really gone overboard with it, bringing in four bands from all around the continent, inviting the royals from other kingdoms, and making sure all the powerful families knew the future king of Agros was in age to marry. And that, he remembered, is how he came to be with this boy. He was from a noble family in Zaeli who came to the party in hopes to mary Corvin to the boy’s younger sister. She was thirteen, though, and Corvin had no interest in getting involved with a child. Her brother, though, proved to be a pleasant form of entertainment the whole night, sitting and talking to Corvin about his kingdom and life and making funny jokes while Corvin observed the girls who came and went to say hello to him. Having a boy keep him company meant he could enjoy the company and also give just a bit of attention for any possibly interesting girls. Corvin would do well to remember that in his future endeavors. 

Not that he didn’t like girls. He most certainly did enjoy them as well. They were just too complicated for him, with the seduction games and the constant worrying about not getting pregnant, they made it difficult to have any kind of fun with, and so Corvin decided a while ago to only take a girl to bed when he marries. Luckily, he had never had the bad luck of falling in love with anyone, which would make keeping his resolve much harder. But that would likely never happen, since he was going to marry someone for political reasons. But what he could do was have the most fun he could before this marriage, and that was exactly what he was doing.

He walked through the corridors of the castle, shaking his head every once in a while to try and shake off his headache. That was to no avail, though, and he figured he would be better off trying to fight it after the meeting with his mother, which would undoubtedly make it worse. Straightening his clothes, he adjusted his posture and nodded the guard posted at the door to announce him. 

“Mother?” He called as he entered the room, which looked more like a library than an office. His mother’s finance books were all on top of her desk, near the window on the west wall of the room, but she sat on the head of the large table in the center, designed for formal meetings. 

“Corvin, sit,” she said, gesturing to the chair to her left without looking up from her papers. Her hair was down, the waves crashing on her shoulders and chest. Not formal, then. Corvin sat at his chair and waited for her to speak, but she didn’t. 

“Did you need something so early?” She looked up then, an incredulous look on her face.

“It’s noon, Corvin. And yes. We need to discuss your engagement.” Corvin looked at the clock, frowning, and then frowned even more when he processed the rest of what his mother had said. 

“My engagement? But I haven’t chosen a bride.” 

“No, but I have.” 

Corvin’s eyebrows shot up, and he wasn’t exactly sure of how he was feeling, maybe angry, or betrayed, all he knew was that his heart was racing and his instincts told him that was wrong, told him to run from there. 

“You don’t get to choose who I mary,” he said, and the same anger he knew he had on his face was mirrored in his mother’s. 

“Do you honestly believe that?” 

“What I believe is that I have a say in who is a better fit to rule my kingdom with me. And that there’s no rush for me to marry.”

“You marry whoever is best for  _ our  _ kingdom, and your say does not matter.”

The blood boiled in his veins, and he clenched his fists. Was it really possible that he would marry someone he didn’t even know only because his mother wanted him to? He would be king, how could he have no power at all? 

“And who exactly do you want me to marry?” 

He would have power, he decided. But his mother would not give him any, which meant he’d have to take it. He didn’t even know where to start with that, but maybe knowing who it was he could find secrets of her family to make them forget her as a candidate. 

“Myla Semnai,” his mother answered, leaving Corvin utterly shocked and even angrier. He hated Myla, had hated her since they were kids, and that was no secret to anyone, not even his mother. There was no scenario in his mind in which marrying Myla would be good for him or his kingdom. She was cold, childish and spoiled, and absolutely unbearable. Corvin would never marry her. 

“I won’t marry Myla.” His mother’s eyes shined with anger and irritation. Corvin didn’t understand why she was doing this. Forcing him into an engagement with a girl whose family he was pretty sure she hated, and exactly when he became of age, when there was supposed to be no rush to find him a bride and future queen. 

“You will marry who I want you to marry.” 

Corvin swallowed his anger and took a deep breath. He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles, trying once again to calm his throbbing headache, to no avail. The fact that his mother was picking a fight - and a queen - for no reason didn’t help.

“Mother, I don’t need to marry right now. There is no reason for this. What is happening?” 

He forced himself to speak in a calm voice. A lot of the time he wanted to match the angry fire that seemed to burn behind his mother’s eyes constantly, he mostly felt joy to match up to her in arguments, to see the proud expression on her face when he used the same tactics on other people to convince them to do something. This time, though, was about his future, and the future of his kingdom, he could not pick a fight. 

She seemed surprised for an instant at the sudden calmness in his voice, but recovered quickly, and her queenly expression of coldness and authority returned. 

“Corvin, what is happening is that you have a duty to your kingdom, and I need to ensure that you will fulfill it.”

“At eighteen? You and father didn’t marry until you were twenty two,” he said, seeing right through her lie. Her nostrils flared, that fire once again showing in her eyes. 

“You father didn’t take men to his bed!” 

Corvin was taken aback with the tone of her voice. His mother had never snapped at him like that. And how did she even know? He was always careful not to be seen with men, and had never even taken one to his bed until last night. The fire came back to him as well, boiling his blood and burning his skin. How dare her intrude in his personal affairs like that? How dare her try to marry him to someone just so he doesn’t lie in bed with someone she doesn’t approve of? 

“So that’s what this is about? You wish to control who I bed?” 

“This is about your responsibilities! And about how you can’t fail your country!” 

They were both shouting at this point, not bothering with appearances to whoever mig might be listening on the other side of the door. Corvin could swear he saw someone peek inside and give up on going in. He didn’t care. The people he went to bed with were not his mother’s business. He had never heard of such a thing.

“This had nothing to do with my responsibilites, mother.” 

“Oh Corvin, how incredibly naive of you to think taking men into your bed doesn’t have anything to do with your role as a prince and future king.  _ Everything _ you do has  _ everything _ to do with your future. Do you have any idea what will happen if someone finds out that you took the prince of Zaeli into your bedroom last night?” 

“How do you even know that? We sent through secret passages into my room. There was no one there.” 

A loud and bitter excuse for laughter left his mother’s lips, the sound sending waves of her mighty verbal domination power through him. He knew this strategy,  _ she _ had made him master it. Laughing like that, making the other person feel small and humiliated, so they would back out and give her victory. He would not fall for it, so his head remained high, his discussion face back on. 

“Boy, you don’t even know who works for you. Your servants and guards are all loyal to me. So yes Corvin, I know everything you do.” 

“I’m not a child anymore, mother. I will not let you bully me into bending to your will. I will not marry Myla, because I feel that you made that decision with too much alcohol and anger running through your blood.” 

Corvin smiled as he saw his mother lose her composure altogether right before his eyes. Her face turned crimson, and she bared her teeth. He thought he heard a little hiss coming out between them. She wasn’t as good as she thought, and he wasn’t as powerless. She could try to strongarm him into a marriage, but the decision would ultimately be his; which was why she had called him here still hungover and weak, and also why it was important that she won him verbally, psychologically. But she had thought him well.

“You are a child!” Her screams were so loud, Corvin could bet they had a big audience outside of people who were walking through the hallway and heard her. “You are  _ my _ child, and I am your queen, and you will listen to me!” 

Having her not having control or arguments stopped being satisfying after a few seconds, and as Corvin came down from his rush of anger and manipulation, he stood up and buttoned his jacket. 

“My decision about Myla is final, mother. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go have lunch.” 

He walked out of the room leaving queen Victoria Battaglia shaking in anger, but completely silent. 

* * *

 

All during lunch, he thought about what his mother had said over and over. His brother, Callum, and his boyfriend, Pollux Senmai, Myla’s brother, joined him for lunch and tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t able to concentrate, so he didn’t pay any attention. He refused anything to drink that wasn’t water, ate little, and lost all hope on getting rid of his headache. Just as he stood to leave to go to his room, he heard Callum comment something about the royal guard competition. 

“That’s today?” 

Callum looked up from his plate with a very confused look on his face. 

“Yes. Dad talked about it like two days ago. I can’t believe you forgot.”

He remembered now. His father saying something about that at dinner two days ago. He shook his head and looked down again to find only the curls of his brother’s hair turned to him; Callum was already back in conversation with Pollux. His younger brother was right to be confused, Corvin never forgot anything. Callum always said it was one of many traits he inherited from their mother, but Corvin believed he was made by his mother, rather than be born with her traits. It was something he was in constant conflict with, always trying to run away from. He sighed and left the room, remembering what his mother had said. 

_ “Your servants and guards are loyal to me.” “You don’t even know who works for you.” _

Corvin needed to change that. He was going to be king, and a king needs to have loyal servants and guards; not to the queen, but to himself. The royal guard competition seemed like a good way to start. 

He picked a simple outfit, a white tunic, brown leggings, and his red cape, the one with a hood that he always used to walk among people unnoticed. He tied in shoulder-long hair into a bun and pulled his hood on as he left the secret passage from his room to the main hall of the castle, where too many people went around for anyone to notice him. He took his horse without anyone noticing from the stables, and headed to the capitol training center. 

Getting a place on the bleachers wasn’t hard, and as he sat, he heard his mother’s voice calling him boy repeatedly in his head. Corvin told himself he wasn’t a boy anymore, but that kept getting harder and harder to believe. He was, indeed, naive, and lost in his own fun to realise he would run a kingdom in the future, and needed to act accordingly. 

He felt exactly like a boy when he finally focused on the contestants, and saw, who was leading the race test. His heart pounded in his chest as he took in the vision of Bella Santori, grown and strong, leaving all the boys behind her and running into victory. 


	3. An old friend

Her mother brought her sword. She hadn’t even realised she didn’t have it until mom appeared in the crowd of boys with it in hand, and murmured a quiet “you forgot” as she handed it over. Mom said her father was going crazy and trying to leave the house to give her the sword, and had made her come deliver it to Bella. The sword used to be her father’s, from when he was in the guard. It was lightweight but long and swift, and perfect for her, since she is (or at least estimates) as tall as her father. She had been using it and learning how to use it since she was eleven, and she had almost cried at the thought that she almost went into the test without having it. Now, though, it felt heavy. The weight of her father’s hopes and dreams tightly wrapped against her hip as she ran. She wasn’t first place on the endurance and strength test, where they threw weights around, dragged grain sacks as heavy as a person -but she wasn’t bad, and went on to the race easily. But not as easily as she was going to get into the duels phase. Years of making deliveries and running up and down the hills of Argenine, capital to the kingdom of Agros, on every season, had her running effortlessly past the boys, most of which were left behind for not having the energy or for not standing the heat. Many of them left the race to vomit and some even fainted. Other street kids were closing in on her, but they knew as she did that they wouldn’t win. At least they would all go into the final phase, and she wouldn’t be the only one from the poor districts dueling for a position. If she was lucky, she would take on one of them, and her little improvised training would actually be enough to land her a place; but she wasn’t feeling lucky today. The track was a stone one, in the middle of the dirt ground. It stretched out for five kilometers, and Bella actually liked how stable the stone flooring used to make the track felt against the sole of her worn boots. The fighting leathers she used made her hotter than the usual clothes she would go for, but a big portion of the track was under the shadow of the bleachers to each side, so the heat was bearable, and it could never pose a challenge to her, who ran with crates of merchandise in her arms when she needed to make a delivery to a especially impatient noble. All in all, it wasn’t a difficult race

The crowd cheered - actually cheered - as Bella crossed the finish line, and she looked to the bleachers to try and find her mother, but instead she found Rhea’s short figure, curls of hair flying around her face as she jumped and cheered. She stopped running and sat on the dirty ground off the track, panting and laughing. Maybe she had a chance of getting in, after all.

Rhea made her and Tullius drink a lot of water as the three of them sat together at the bleachers. Bella obeyed gladly, and even ate some bread to calm her stomach, hungry from not eating anything all day. She had been too nervous, so nervous she was nauseous. But after placing first on the race, she felt calm - confident, even - and her stomach had roared immediately. Rhea’s presence and cheering helped, too, even though she couldn’t kiss her or hold her hand in public, Rhe still calmed her; and she knew Tullius felt the same. He had placed fifth in the race and he told his twin sister repeatedly that her voice guided him to the finish line. He was happy, too, and made jokes calling Bella speedy. “That’s why my father pays you more,” he said. Bella just smiled and rejoiced in how much lighter her heart felt now. _Only one more phase to go_ , she thought to herself as she touched the S engraved on the pommel of her sword. She half hoped her father could read her thoughts from home.

* * *

 

Bella’s heart dropped at the name. Since she was first on the race, she was the first to be announced to duel. She imagined she would go against the second place - a noble boy, but skinny and probably not skilled enough to defeat her. She liked her chances when she thought she would be up against that little noble; but the name the captain of the guard called was of a fit looking noble with fancy battle clothes and a family signia of a falcon on his chest. He was good, he knew it, Bella knew it, and so did the captain. Judging by his face, he knew exactly what he was doing putting this boy against her. He was giving her an unfair fight.

That’s what she thought as she entered the ring - which was really just an area limited by poles and ropes on the dirty ground, not more than twenty meters ahead of the racing track -, but as she boy viciously attacked her and she barely held her ground in her defensive stance, she realised she had no idea of how incredibly monstrous it was to put her against this kid. He was obviously strong, and very skilled; it was like he was made exactly for this. She tried to remind herself she was first on the race, but that only made her remember _he_ had placed first on strength and endurance. She would lose, and badly.

Bella took a deep breath, and her father’s words echoed in her brain. _Breathe. Listen. Observe. Find your advantage._ She repeated the words to herself, and as she dodged another attack, she found her advantage on his left shoulder. He seemed to yield the blade just fine with both hands, but she remembered him preferring his left side to throw and lift, and so she used all the speed she had to slide to stand next to his left shoulder as she escaped one more swing of his sword, and used the pommel of her own sword to hit it. He let out a cry of pain as he ducked to the front with the strength of her attack. He recovered quickly, though, and Bella knew she was done when she saw the look of pure hate on his face. She prepared to evade another slice of his sword, but instead fell to the ground as she felt pain flashing through her leg. She hadn’t had money to buy metal pieces for them, and so she only wore a chest piece for armor, leaving her legs to be protected by her worn out fighting leathers. She was still on her knees when she saw his sword swinging straight to her head. All the sharp parts of the blades were protected with rubber so they wouldn’t cut each other, but the hit still hurt and made her head spin. She saw stars as her face hit the ground. Someone in the distance shouted - Tullius. He was shouting at the captain - judge of all the duels - that hits on the head were against the rules, but the judge didn’t seem to mind at all.

Bella looked up to find the boy with a sickening smile on his face - or maybe she was sick from the hit she had just taken. It took about two seconds for her vision to come back to normal, and only then she started to stand. Only to find herself back on the ground, the bread threatening to come back out of her mouth as the air left her lungs and pain took over her torso. She barely had time to register the first kick when the second came, on her ribs -unprotected by she single chestpiece of armor she wore. Tullius shouted something again, but she couldn’t hear it. Bella slid her sword away from her a placed her hands flat on the ground, the smell of dirt invading her nostrils as she let her cheek touch the ground between her hands.

“I surrender,” she said as loud as she could, before she felt another kick, this time on her thigh. She shouted her surrender once more, but felt the boy’s fist come down on her face.

“That is an order, Edmund!” Bella heard someone say - the person who was shouting? But she thought that was Tullius.

She waited for another blow to come, but only heard someone shout “Step away from the girl,” and then steps - the boy backing away. She opened her eyes, and after a few seconds of adjusting, the got up to her knees, to find a boy with a red cape standing at the edge of the ring. She got up and made herself focus. That face was familiar - the full mouth, prominent cheekbones, cutting blue eyes, blonde hair.

“Vin?” She asked at the same time as Edmund - the captain - bowed.

Bowed?

“Your highness,” her aggressor murmured as he mimicked Edmund’s bow. Your highness? Why were they bowing to Vin? Vin was a prince?

Bella bowed automatically, even if her confusion was still written all across her face, and the movement made her head spin again.

“You don’t need to bow,” he said, and she went back to her standing position. The noble boy started rising as well, and Vin pointed at him. “You do.” The boy quickly went back to bowing. “Don’t you think you owe someone an apology?”

“I apologize, your highness,” the boy said immediately.

“Not to me.”

Not to Vin, to Bella. Vin was a prince, and he was making this noble boy ask Bella for forgiveness.

“Please forgive me, lady, for my harsh actions.”

Bella nodded, her eyebrows pinched together.

“You are hereby eliminated from the competition and banned from ever taking part in it again. The kingdom has no interest in soldiers who don’t want to follow rules.”

The boy, who had risen by then, turned red - angry -, but nodded, and left after bowing his head. Vin extended his hand to Bella.

“Please, forgive me for the shameful behavior these men have showed toward you, lady Santori. They obviously don’t know how to treat a lady properly. Let me accompany you into the healer’s office.”

Bella took his hand without a word, he threw her arm over his shoulder and took hold of her waist, and supported her weak and limping body out of the ring.

* * *

 

“She’s an old friend,” he was saying to the healer when Bella was able to focus again. After they left the ring and adrenaline left her body, she had passed out. She woke up to the feel of a soft blanket around her body and Vin’s voice. She groaned at the pain she felt through her whole body as she perched herself up on her elbows. The healer was working on her exposed ribs, where she spotted a vicious black toned bruise. Vin was handing her something - some kind of paste. He looked up at Bella’s face with a concerned expression.

“Bella, how are you feeling?”

“I’ll let you guess,” she responded dryly, making Vin’s lips draw a half smile.

“Good. Sarcasm is good,” Vin breathed, just as the healer, a woman in her forties, probably, reprimanded her for talking like that to her crowned prince with an irritated voice. Bella smiled lightly, and regretted it as she felt pain flash through her cheek.

“He likes it,” she said to the healer. Vin laughed, and even with her headache, Bella was able to remember just how much she had missed his laugh, how much she had missed _him_.

“It’s true,” Vin defended, earning him a disapproving look from the healer, who went back to work, now asking Bella do raise her torso enough for her to wrap bandages around it. They were silent after that, Vin moving only to raise a cup of water to Bella’s mouth. She took the opportunity - and his proximity - to look at him, really look at him. He looked the same as he did when they were kids, his blue eyes capable of freezing you in place, his full mouth always with a smile on, his square jawline making it seem like he was older than he really was - eighteen, if Bella remembered their age difference. He looked the same, but older, and definitely fitter. His hair was longer, too. Not the low cut he had when they were younger, but a mess of blonde waves cascading down to his shoulders. He was beautiful to look at, his muscles shifting as he moved around to help Bella. She could tell he was looking at her, too, his eyes moving around her face, taking in every detail. Once the healer finished, she told Bella to go home and rest, and Vin told her he would make sure to take Bella home safe. He threw her arm around his shoulder like he had in the ring, and took her to his horse, which he helped her mount and then mounted himself. Bella only spoke when they were out of the center, on the streets, Vin’s red hood covering his face. It was almost night time, and she started to wonder if her friends and family weren’t worried about her.

“So... Crowned prince of Agros, are you?” She heard Vin’s snort behind her, and became aware of how close their bodies were, her back resting against his torso.

“I’m prince Corvin Battaglia, pleased to meet you,” Vin said in a mocking tone.

“Arabella Santori, but you can call me Bella, your highness,” she answered in a tone matching his. And just like that, Vin - prince Corvin -, her childhood best friend, who she had known since she was a baby and disappeared one day when they were eight, was back into her life.

He explained himself: he went away for a while to go to a famous healer down at the Academy so he could recover from an illness. When he came back, he went to the park at the castle close every day to see her, but she didn’t show up anymore, not to play at the park, not to geography and manners classes, so he gave up. Then Bella explained: her father suffered an accident - which she didn’t know the details of - and lost both his legs, thus becoming unable to work as a royal guard, and to pay for her classes, of course. And she stayed with him through his miraculous recovery, for months. By the time he was okay, she felt too old to play at the park, and figured he wouldn’t be there anyways. With time, Bella had found a way to forget she missed him - her only friend, who knew everything about her, who she thought she knew everything about. For a while she was alone, with only Cotton, her cat, to keep her company. Later on, she started making deliveries for Hagan Battaglia, and met his children, Tullius and Rhea. The first, her friend, the latter, something more. She told Vin everything, pausing to give him directions to her house, and he would only listen and throw in an occasional comment here and there. _“You still have that cat?” “This Rhea girl seems cool, can you introduce us?” “I wish I was there to see your father, the big bad Klaus Santori, take a pie to his face in a food fight.”_

They rode slowly, no doubt to make the talk last longer, and when they neared Bella’s street, she told him to take a left and asked Vin about him.

“What has the busy prince of Agros been up to these past eight years?”

“Ah, there are a lot of stories there. But we’ll have plenty of time to catch up on that,” he said just as Bella pointed at her house and he pulled the reins of his horse gently.

“We will? And how is that?”

“I want you to come work for me.”


	4. A divide

“No,” Bella said, her tone harsh. Vin was taking her off the horse, lifting her up by her waist, as he offered her a spot in the royal guard - his personal guard, more specifically. They stood in front of her house, where she saw shadows peeking the windows, but no one came outside.

“Why not?”

“I didn’t get in, I got destroyed, I don’t deserve the position.”  Corvin’s hand went into his hair, throwing a handful of hair from left to right.

“Does that matter? I can give you a position,” he said exasperated, hands flailing a bit, before he noticed what he was doing and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“It matters to me. I want to get in fairly.”

“But Bella-”

“No, Vin. I wouldn’t even be any good, I’ve had almost no training.”

He sighed through his nose, and something in his expression shifted, he became more serious, the muscles on his jaw hardening and hands coming out of his pockets for his arms to cross across his chest. That, Bella realized, was his prince face. She was about to get ordered by the prince of Agros, instead of being asked for something by her friend.

“Before you order me to do anything-”

“You don’t even know what I’m about to say, Bella.” Even though his face was closed off, and a fire burned in his eyes, his tone was the same. Softer, even. Like there was a beast living inside of him, and he could keep it in just enough not to yell at her.

“Okay, sorry.” She gestured for him to speak.

“Let me train you.”

Bella blinked. It would most certainly be nice to be trained by the prince; he definitely had received the best training available in Agros, and if he was as smart as she remembered, maybe he would make a good teacher. Hope made her heart beat faster, and died down a second later, as she remembered she could never just stop working to train. Maybe if she was still financially stable, but these days every coin she brought in counted, and she had that responsibility, being it a fair one or not.

Her emotions and thoughts were made clear in her expressions, if the way Vin looked at her was any indication. He had seemed happy when that spark of hope lit up inside of her, and now he had come back to that serious face.

“What is it now?”

“I can’t, Vin. I have to work, to bring money in. I don’t have time like when we were kids.”

Something shifted in his eyes, and he abandoned his prince stance, the sorrow now showing in his face.

“I’m sorry this happened to you.” Bella shook her head at his words.

“I don’t want your pity. I’m strong and capable, I have connections. I can work. So many people have it worse.” Vin looked down, then, looking sad and defeated.

“My father doesn’t care about people. He takes pride in ending the war, but he did nothing to reopen trade routes between Agros and other countries. That made our kingdom miss out on various opportunities to thrive and prosper. I have studied all of that in detail, and yet…” He trailed off, looking at the stars, at the street, then back at his own feet. “And yet I had never realised what that meant. That it meant that your father doesn’t get one penny for the time he bravely served the king. I chose not to pay attention to any of this.” He gestured vaguely to their surroundings before he crossed his arms again and sighed. “So no, it isn’t my pity you have. I really am so sorry, Bella, because I should be better. I will be better. I’ll be a better prince than I am now, and a better king than my father is. I promise.” He held up a fist against his chest on the spot over his heart and dropped the other at his side, the sign of a promise among their people, and looked her in the eyes. As if waiting for her to say something.

Bella wasn’t sure how to react, though. Vin looked vulnerable now, that mighty beast inside him now lay bare and bleeding before her. She wondered if that’s what was really happening in his head; if that beast only came out when he was hurt. She wondered if he showed it to anyone.

“Okay,” she said simply, no other words seeming appropriate. Vin nodded as he lowered his hand, the muscles in his jaw tensing.

The silence that followed was awkward, to say the least. Bella shifted between her feet constantly, and Vin ran his hands through his hair and opened his mouth every now and then like he was going to say something, but always thought better of it.

“I missed you,” Bella said at last, surprising even herself. Vin smiled his full boyish smile at her.

“I missed you, too,” he said, and Bella watched as his expression changed from the boy she played with to a person who had just made an incredible discovery.

“What?” She asked, already knowing one of Vin’s stupid plans would come cascading out of his mouth.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but how much do you make working for that merchant?”

Bella blinked and frowned at him.

“Why do you care?”

“You’re right, I don’t. Whatever it is, I’ll double it. Or even better, triple.” Bella rolled her eyes and started to put on a performance of extreme worry, mimicking the was a healer searched for injuries through Vin’s head. “What?!” An annoyed Vin asked.

“Oh I’m checking for signs that you’ve gone deaf,” and as she spoke Vin’s eyes rolled, but she continued, “because I’m pretty sure I told you just now that I will only serve on the guard if I get in fairly.”

“Not in the guard. I need a… servant.”

“A servant? Don’t you have one?”

“All my servants and guards are loyal to my mother. She uses them to spy on me. And I want to have my own group of guards and servants who are loyal to me. I’d like to start with you.”

“I don’t need you to do me any favors,” Bella said, and started to turn to enter her house, but Vin held her forearm.

“I’m not doing you any favors. This is a trade. I need something from you, and you need the money. You don’t even have to live in the castle, you can live here just the same. At least promise me you’ll think about it?”

Bella raised her eyebrows in disbelief, but nodded anyway; she was tired and that would at least let her be and rest for the night. He nodded back and let go of her, going on to mount his horse. Bella wasn’t limping anymore, and walking to the door was somewhat easy, the pain in her leg almost completely gone. She was almost at the door when she heard Vin’s voice again.

“I’ll let the guards know that Arabella Santori has free passage into the castle and should be directed to me if you go there.”

Even though Bella was tired and very annoyed at Vin, knowing he was leaving made her feel like when they were children and he didn’t show up to play with her. Like she was utterly alone. So she turned her head to look at him one last time, having a feeling that she would spend another long time without seeing him.

“You can come at any time. To talk about the job offer or just to see me, if you want. I’ll be glad to have your company. You’re my friend and will always be treated as such in Moelfire castle.”

“Okay,” Bella said with a small smile that made her cheek complain. Vin returned it and nudged his horse, galloping up the street in the direction of the castle. When she turned back to close the distance between her and the door, it flung open, revealing Rhea’s small and curved figure on the other side.

“Were you listening on the other side of the door?”

“No,” Rhea said immediately, but her expression betrayed her. Bella snorted and walked inside. Once Rhea closed the door, she placed a quick kiss on her girlfriend’s lips as she heard her father’s voice shout her name. Her father was sitting on the small sofa facing the the window on which she had seen the peering heads earlier. The room was a combination of kitchen, dining room and living room; as she walked through the door, to her right was the old sofa, and a small wooden coffee table in front of it. Right in front of her was the dining table, all wooden and with only four seats, and to her left was the kitchen, with simple stone counters and stove. On the opposite wall she could see the three doors; to her bedroom, near the kitchen, to their single bathroom, only a few meters away from the dining table, and behind the sofa, to her parents’ bedroom - all closed. Tullius sat at the table, but his chair was turned in the direction of where her father sat; her mother, she noticed at the same time as she smelled food, was at the kitchen. She waved to her mother, who surveyed her top to bottom from the distance and made a pained face, before she stalked to the sofa to sit beside her father.

“Dinner will be ready soon. It’s meat soup, to help you regain your strength,” she heard her mother’s voice call to her back. She couldn’t help but smile a bit.

She sat close to her father, Rhea bringing a dining chair close to the sofa to sit beside her. The second she sat down, cotton jumped - apparently from nowhere - to her lap like a cloud dropped from the sky, and snuggled her head on Bella’s stomach. Bella ran her fingers through her soft perfectly white fur, which somehow made her automatically feel better - calmer.

“Your sword is in your room,” Tullius said from the dining table, making the small bliss that came with Cotton’s drain away, making her pull a face.

“It’s okay,” Rhea said, pulling Bella’s head close to her and kissing it’s top. “You’ll try again next year.

“I know. But I won’t pass. I don’t have the training nor the time to train,” Bella said in a defeated voice as her head dropped to Rhea’s shoulder - an awkward position, but one that comforted her along with Cotton’s nuzzling on her thigh -, and heard her father’s snort coming from the other side.

If she was being honest with herself, Bella felt ashamed, hopeless, and she was not very eager to face her father’s disappointment to add to her defeat. As he spoke though, she had to look at him. In his usual spot, with his usual blanket covering the small bits of thigh that were there to remind him of the healthy strong man he once was. Now he was just that - bits of a glorious past and what was supposed to be a promising future. This small rectangular house they lived in had been his father’s, he had been born in this house, and had hoped all his life he would die somewhere else, but the house he had bought in the castle close, where Bella lived as a child, had to be sold to pay for his medical expenses, and so he had lost all hope to live a better life - until Bella said she wanted to be in the guard. Since that first day of an excuse for sword training he had given her, the light came back to his eyes a little more every day. Her mother, who had become distant and sad with the responsibilities of maintaining a house and sick husband, became the warm and sweet woman Bella remembered from her childhood, her burden now shared in hers and Bella’s four shoulders.

Bella thought her defeat would take that all away. Make the hope stop gleaming in her father’s eyes, the sweetness become sourness in her mother’s hugs. But looking at him, Bella saw it wasn’t gone at all. Instead, he had a playful smile on his face.

“Kid,” he said, putting his hand on Bella’s knee. “I got my ass handed to me the first time I tried too. But I trained harder. I got better. That’s really all you can do with anything in life.”

Bella gawked at her father, who laughed softly at her expression.

“I believe in you, Bella. I raised you so you’d be better and stronger than me, and I think I did that right.”

“Thanks, dad,” Bella said, removing her hand from Cotton’s fur - which got her a small hiss of complaint - to put it on top of the hand her father had on her knee. He turned his hand to squeeze hers, and smiled as he nodded at her.  _It’s okay,_  his eyes said. Bella believed him. “At least I know I won’t fight against that guy again,” Bella joked. Tullius and dad laughed with her, but Rhea made a face.

“That boy was cruel,” she said, as if she was reliving a nightmare.

“Yeah, good thing  _he’s_  not your fiancé, sis,” Tullius said, making everyone’s heads whip to look at him. Even Cotton seemed to raise her head to pay attention.

“What?” Bella asked, looking between her friend and her girlfriend. “What is he talking about?”

Bella’s dark skin turned a strange shade of orange as the color drained from her face, her eyes wide. She opened her mouth and closed it, but as she tried to find words, Bella felt her heart sink inside her chest, because she already knew what she was going to listen.

“I… Can we talk about this later? In private?”

Bella’s heart cracked with each word.

“You’re engaged?”

“Yes.”

Bella’s heart broke in two. Tears rolled down her face, and Rhea started crying too, but it wasn’t the same. She couldn’t feel the same as Bella.

It was over. They were over.

She and Rhea had met through Hagan, who knew Bella’s parents and hadn’t even blinked when mom had asked him to find Bella some work to do to help out. At the time, her father didn’t get out of bed, barely ate and drink, barely lived. Her mother was always working at the back of their house, where she washed clothes for the rich people of Argenine, day and night, and when she talked to Bella their exchanges were short and cold. When Bella met Rhea, she felt utterly and completely alone. And Rhea had been there, sweet and helpful, having lunch among her father’s employees, and had told Bella they should stick together, because they were the only two girls working there. Bella listened to her - listened to that small piece of advice, listened to her talk about the stories in the books the read, listened to her complain about how her mother wanted her to marry some rich kid when she was older and make her into a housewife, instead of a merchant, what she really wanted to be. It was during a conversation with her that Bella finally voiced her desire to be a soldier to someone, and it was during one of Rhea’s complaint sessions that they kissed - and declared that if they ever married, it would be to each other.

Rhea had been everything to Bella when Bella was lonely, she gave Bella the strength she needed every day, to come home and help her father heal from his sadness, give him a purpose. Bella believed she could do it because Rhea had said she could. Bella looked at her empty hands, and wondered how many promises between them had been broken by this.

They promised they wouldn’t marry so they could be together, or marry each other - even if marriage between two women was not yet written in law. One.

“Since when?”

“Three months.”

A sob escaped Bella’s throat. She shook off the hand Rhea put on her shoulder.

They promised they would ignore the social conventions and become what they wanted - a merchant and a soldier. Two.

They promised when they had their backs against the wall, they would confront whatever the problem was together. Three.

They promised they would always be best friends and tell each other everything. Four.

She stopped counting.

Tullius rose from his seat. He pulled a crying Rhea by the arm.

“Bella, this doesn’t mean it’s over. Please.”

“Yes,” Bella said as Rhea stood. “Yes it does.”

Not because she would be married - they already hid themselves from the world -, but because her knowing for three months, having said yes to this without talking to Bella first, and then Bella finding out through Tullius, was more than what Bella could bear. Because all the broken promises opened a divide between them that Bella couldn’t cross. Because it made her heart broke in so many pieces it couldn’t be mended. More than a lover, Bella lost her best friend, the very moment Rhea decided to say yes to someone else and not let her know.

Tullius walked Rhea out, leaving Bella alone with the misery of her two defeats and the pain of her bruised body and broken heart.

She cried for a while, and Cotton tried to lick her face - as if trying to lick the tears away -, but she didn’t allow it. Her father stroked a hand up and down her arm, and it was a bit comforting. But it was only when her mom finally mustered up the courage to bring her the soup that she stopped. At first she refused to eat, but her stomach growled at the smell of it and she opened her mouth to the spoon her mother was holding up. Mom was a good cook, and the hot soup at least calmed her body, so she took the spoon and the bowl and ate in silence.

By the end of her bowl, the food comforted her body, and she was left with a numb feeling she couldn’t name. It was like she felt nothing at all.

“I’m sorry,” her mother said as she took the empty bowl from Bella’s hands and placed a kiss on her forehead. Bella nodded and said she was going to turn in for the night, going to her bedroom with no protest from her parents. Her ribs and legs still hurt from earlier, and Bella fell asleep as soon as she changed from her clothes into her flannel pants and shirt and dropped down into the small bed in her square simple bedroom - only cement walls, an armoire and her bed-, the sleep a welcome escape from the nightmare the day had been.

Bella dreamed of Vin with a crown on his head making her captain of the guard and took it as a sign of what she should do with her life.

Not work for Hagan and have to see Rhea every day, at least not for a while. And not risk having Rhea coming after her, either. Bella suddenly didn’t feel so bad about taking Vin’s offer the next morning, as she left a confused mother at home and walked through a still sleeping Argenine toward Moelfire castle.


	5. A brother and a sister

Corvin took his time to make it to the castle. He made several stops along the city, in taverns, vendors, and had finally stayed on an Inn for a few drinks. He sat by the window, which had a clear view of the Moelfire hill, atop which the castle stood. He watched his home and drank slowly as he thought about what he had done earlier in the day. Growing up as prince, Corvin never did or said anything without thinking first. He was always perfectly disguised whenever he ventured outside of the castle close, never told any of the boys and girls he went home with who he really was, and if he picked up someone at the castle, he would use passages few used to get to his room. He didn’t like to rebel against his father often, and his manipulation battles with his mother were always thought through and more a source of entertainment for both of them than actual trouble. But he hadn’t thought twice about leaving his red cape with the small chubby girl who had given Bella water on the bleachers. He removed it, gave it to her and let his hair down as he went down those bleachers to back Bella’s friend - the girl’s brother, probably -, and order her opponent to back away. He only realized he had done it once he heard Bella say his nickname, but as he saw how she looked - how her perfect face had been hurt by that monster -, he didn’t regret it. Of course, his mother would give him hell for doing it, but he could never regret not letting Bella be hurt any more than she had already been, he couldn’t regret offering her a job. In fact, he would promise her the world if it meant he could keep her close. Knowing her since she was born - her mother was his servant, and her father in his personal guard -, Corvin knew Bella was loyal knew she would be loyal to him. He felt safe telling her anything, and he would give all the money he had for that. 

His thoughts went from Bella, how it was a miracle to find her again after all these years and exactly at the time when he needed a loyal friend, to his mother, and how she would try to keep him close to her after causing such a scene in behalf of a commoner. In all his truth, Corvin thought he should do things on behalf of commoners more often. He never saw himself as superior, and heard about kingdoms where the rulers were loved and worshiped because they thought about their people and walked amongst them like equals. Corvin always told himself he would be that type of king, but only realized he wasn’t that type of prince when he saw Bella’s house. Bella, his best friend, a commoner, but daughter of one of the bravest and most feared soldiers in the royal guard, lived in a small stone and cement house, not fit for a girl with her education and the rank she was supposed to have, had her father received the title of captain everyone said he would. They left that man and his family in the hands of luck after a tragedy, which made an eight year old child mature too early to take care of her father. He had selfishly ignored all his life just how cruel it was to simply be born in his family, even though that was something he couldn’t help. He read about poverty and the war torn country that hid behind the mountains that covered Argenine from danger so well, that protected it from attackers coming from the west. He heard how his mother, Fendaron’s princess, had been trained in the military along with soldiers, because in her country there was no difference when it came to wars; everybody put their necks on the line. And still, he ignored it so masterfully, he drinked and fucked around Argenine to distract himself from the torture his mother put him through his whole life when no one was around, thinking his problems were the biggest there were. And it took him eighteen years and finding Bella - the only person he knew he could trust with his life - in a situation where she might not have what to eat if she didn’t start working at eleven, for him to see just how selfish he really was. For continuing to fuck and be fucked senseless to drive out the nightmares his mother left behind when she stopped beating him and breaking his bones at sixteen - even if it seemed like a big problem until the moment he saw that rich kid kick Bella on the stomach with such strength not even the chest piece she wore protected her from the pain. 

A voice pulled him out of his thoughts just as his mind started taking dark turns, and he looked away from the window to find his brother sitting across the table from him. He wore his usual red tunic and his curly brown hair was down, which was probably his disguise. Their mother didn’t like his hair so it is always tied into a bun in public at court, making it difficult for anyone to know how his hair was like. Simple, and smart, like Callum always was. 

“What did you do?” His brother asked carefully, narrowing his eyes to try and see him through his hood. He put it down, letting his hair - which was now just a mess of waves and knots after all the waiting he did for Bella to wake up - sway free, covering half of his face. 

“How mad is she?” 

“Mad,” Callum said, and his square jaw the only trace they seemed to have in common - shifted with the movement of his muscles, like he was trying to force himself to stay silent.

“Do you remember Arabella Santori? She went to school with us, her dad was in our guard.”

“The dark skinned girl with the long hair?” 

“Yes. I saved her today in the Royal Guard competition.”

“What do you mean you saved her? Mother said you interfered with the competition with no reason.”

“Well, if you call stopping a brat from beating a girl up after she surrendered lying powerless on the ground no reason.”

A soft gasp left Callum’s lips, and Corvin nodded his agreement. They stayed silent for a moment.

“You did the right thing,” Callum murmured at last, just as the waitress came to take his order. He indicated he wouldn’t be drinking with his hand and she quickly left, probably feeling the heavy air around the brothers. 

Corvin knew he’d done the right thing. Mostly because his body moved alone, on pure instinct, because he didn’t even need to think twice. He knew, and had done it because he knew it in his very soul it was the right thing to do. But Callum didn’t look like it was natural at all. 

“Are you surprised?” 

“A little. I kinda expected you to act like…”

“Like mother?” 

Shame shone in Callum’s light brown eyes, his small pointy nose twitching as his lips turned into a thin line. 

“Yes. I thought that you were more like her, when it came to… Well, other people.”

Other people, meaning people outside of their family. People his mother said weren’t important. 

“Is that why you don’t want to have a job in my court?” 

His brother’s eyes widened and Corvin knew he’d hit the spot. The high of the manipulative skills his mother made him acquire was just starting to kick in, and he put on his trained face, waiting for his brother to try and hit him with words. Callum did it, too. He didn’t like to admit it, but they had been raised by the same mother, who gave them both battling faces, who made them both enjoy overpowering someone using just words. Callum was smarter, and read more, though, so his approach was a little different. He used sweet calm words that cut like a knife, took a person down with his blows that mixed insult with charm. Different approach, same guilty satisfaction, Corvin thought as his brother’s face changed and Prince Callum stared him in the eyes. 

“Yes. Because you act so much like her, sometimes I can’t tell the difference.” 

The words hurt, and Corvin let it show, too drained from his day to play his brother. Too tired to hide how he felt. Callum’s face fell. 

“I didn’t mean it,” he said, the words rushing out of his mouth. 

“You did, Cal,” Corvin spat out and downed the rest of his drink in three gulps. The heavy mug hit the table with more force than Corvin intended, and the sound made the waitress jump from her seat at the bar. She shouted a complaint at Corvin, who raised his hands and nodded. “Let’s go home,” he muttered out as he left the payment and a generous tip for the waitress on the table and got up. Callum followed suit, and they stayed silent until they were both on their horses, strutting side by side through the broad streets of the castle close. They had done this so many times the horses knew their way alone, and they did little to control the rhythm of the animals.

“It just scares me sometimes,” Callum whispered. Corvin almost didn’t catch it. “But deep down, I know. I know you’re not her.”

Corvin looked at his brother, who had a pained expression on his face, but looked into Corvin’s eyes with intensity. 

“Okay,” he whispered back. “It scares me too. Back there, that confrontation… It comes out before I can resist it.” 

“I know. And I do want the job. I… I’ve wanted it for a while. You know, sometimes mother is right. She used to tell me as a kid that I was supposed to love and protect you. I always thought she should say the same to you about me. But a lot of the time I find myself finding that she never had to. You always did love and protect me when we were younger, and even today. I intend to do the same when you’re king.” 

Corvin knew his mouth was slightly open from the smile in Cal’s face. The genuine sweetness his brother carried within the prince face hit him just as strongly as his hurtful words, but very differently. Although Callum and Corvin did everything together, they never really talked about their feelings. Not toward each other, not toward other people. There was a wall between them that didn’t allow Corvin to tell some things to his brother. Maybe he was scared to let Callum know just how much he had loved and protected him; how many times his mother beat him for something Callum did, thinking it was Corvin - led to think so. Corvin sobbed, but held in his tears, and controlled himself before he could spill everything he truly felt out his mouth for his brother and the entire city to hear. Callum reached out a hand in a quick movement, grabbing his forearm and sliding his hand down to hold his older brother’s. Corvin held on tight. 

“I offered her a job,” he said, trying to change the subject. “Bella. I offered her a job at the castle.”

Cal’s lips curved up.

“You’re going to be a good king, brother. I look forward to meeting her.” 

Corvin felt something shift between him and his brother as they finished their ride to the castle in silence - some kind of trust that wasn’t there before-, and Corvin allowed himself to feel hopeful, to think maybe Bella wasn’t the only one he could trust with his life after all. 

* * *

Callum was right. His mother was mad. He was summoned to her room as soon as they set foot in the castle. Callum dismissed the guards and followed him to the tower where the king and queen had their rooms - separate rooms, and as he entered his mother’s sitting room, Callum stood by the door, much like a guard, and stayed outside. All the royal rooms of the castle were pretty much the same, a sitting room with a loveseat and two armchairs, a bedroom with a bathing room attached to it, and an attached suite for the preferred servant with a door to the sitting room. His mother still used the colors of her home kingdom - green and golden - to decorate her rooms, which had nothing personal of hers, save from the clothes in her closet; unlike Corvin’s rooms, which had books and music sheets and weapons scattered all around; making it unmistakably his. His mother sat at the loveseat, her long blonde hair falling around her plain white dress and a glass of wine in hand. She let out a long irritated sigh upon looking at him. 

“Honestly, Corvin, did you do this just to spite me?” Her venom laced voice let out. Corvin could tell she was already getting dizzy from the wine. That was not her first glass.

“No,” she replied in a low and calm voice. He would not go into discussions with his mother again, he was too tired for that. 

“Then why would you do that? Why would you sneak out without your guards and interfere with the competition, which Edmund had under control?” 

“I don’t see why I’d need my guards to go somewhere full of guards.”

His mother made a face at him, but seemed just as tired as him, the intensity in her eyes almost completely gone. Se let out a breath through her nose.

“You still had no right to interfere with the competition. You caused me trouble by undermining Edmund’s position.” 

Corvin remembered Edmund’s face through the whole thing, his wicked smile of someone who was enjoying the scene unfold before his eyes. Someone who was enjoying a boy beat up Corvin’s childhood friend by going against the rules. The blood turned to fire in his veins, and Corvin wasn’t sure who he was angry at, if it was at his mother for provoking him this morning in the first place, at Edmund for letting that happens with Bella, or at himself for not stopping it sooner. But he knew he was angry, and he wouldn’t waste energy trying to hide it or school his face. He bared his teeth at his mother, giving her the best of what his burning fire had to offer. 

“The girl surrendered and the boy still kept kicking her, and Edmund was enjoying it, like the fucking bastard he is. I had every right to protect my subject from two monsters,” he snarled, his hands balled in fists at each side of his body. “Edmund may be captain of the Royal guard, but I am crowned prince and he also answers to  _ me _ .” 

His mother was taken aback by the rage he let out, her eyes wide as she surveyed the animal she raised. Corvin was a hunter, and anyone who crossed him tonight might become his prey. He was taught well by his mother to take down anyone without even touching his sword, and now he used it against her and anyone who was too loyal to her. Just as he was about to let another wave out, the heard the door open, and looked back to see Callum enter the room. 

“Is everything okay?” 

Their mother finally came out of her scared trance and put on her queen face as she looked at his brother and nodded. 

“Corvin was just letting me know how unfair Lord Edmund was to the lady in the competition and asking me to punish him accordingly,” she said and looked Corvin from top to bottom. “Son, I trust you to find him a fitting punishment. You can go.”

And with that, she waved them both off. They walked out of the room together, and as soon as the door clicked shut behind him, Corvin let out a breath and ran his hands through his hair. 

“Well that wasn’t half bad,” Callum offered, but his face fell as he saw that Corvin’s face didn’t change a bit. 

“I snapped at her.” 

“I heard.”

They walked in silence for a while, and Corvin sighed again. 

“I’m tired.” 

Callum’s hand came up to his shoulder and squeezed. Corvin was glad for the small comfort, and kept walking, letting his brother lead the way. They came to a stop in front of Corvin’s bedroom door. He moved to open it, but remembered something that would help him clear his mind. 

“I’m going to see Chiara,” he said, and turned to leave. 

“Give her a hug for me,” Callum said as he went on the opposite direction of the corridor, toward the tower his room was located in. And Corvin found himself walking alone through the hallways of the castle, his red hood in his hand dragging on the stone floor. 

Corvin found himself hating his mother a lot of the time. But he tended to hate her for different reasons on different days, and today he hated her for every reason he could find; this time, the fact that she put Chiara to live in the furthest of the royal rooms, on the west wing of the castle, isolating her completely from court. The imperfect weak child she wishes she didn’t have. Corvin often wondered what would happen if it was him in Chiara’s place. If his mother would isolate the crown prince of the kingdom, if she would change the succession line and make Callum king. He supposed she would. It wasn’t like she loved any of them, anyways. 

He greeted Alaric and Phillip, Chiara’s usual night guards, before he knocked on the bedroom door from the sitting room. He didn’t wait for an answer, and walked into his sister’s bedroom, where she was lying in bed, as usual, with a book shaking in her weak, bony hands. A maid tried to help her hold it, but she shook the woman’s hand off, and the woman complained, right before she saw Corvin had walked in. 

“Your highness! I didn’t hear you knock!” She said as she bowed. 

“That’s alright,” Corvin said, and smiled at his sister, who had dropped the book on her lap and looked at him. 

“You’re dismissed,” Chiara mumbled quickly to the woman, who opened her mouth to protest, but Chiara saw it coming. “Corvin will get me anything I need, won’t you brother?”

“Of course.” 

They both nodded at the servant, and she bowed once more before leaving to the sitting room. 

Corvin looked at his sister as he walked through her bedroom. A year and a half ago, Chiara would have been a sight to behold. She had the golden hair of their mother’s family, the light brown eyes from the father, the Battaglia square jaw,a small, thin nose, and the lean but muscled build that came from all the training any Battaglia child was raised to love. While Corvin looked too much like his mother and Callum too much like his father, Chiara was a perfect, beautiful mix of the two. At only thirteen, she had princes from all over the world trying to court her, her beauty and musical talent the center of attention in any party they attended. And then, eighteen months ago, everything had changed. She was taken by a sudden illness. It started small. She wasn’t eating as much, didn’t have as much energy. In three months she had lost a lot of weight, in six, she couldn’t train anymore, in a year she couldn’t walk at all, and three months ago, she couldn’t hold up her instruments or paint brushes, because her hands shook with the smallest amount of effort. They had brought in healers from all over, but they all looked at her, gave her treatments, and nothing changed. With time, everyone gave up. She was moved from the room next to Corvin’s to this one, her tutors were dismissed, their mother stopped bringing healers, then stopped coming to see her altogether. Father still made servants carry her at least twice a week to “get some fresh air,” which had just turned into two weekly sessions of her trying not to cry as she watched Corvin, Callum and Pollux train together in the sun. But she wouldn’t go anywhere else. 

Now, she was only skin and bones, and the music always blasting from her rooms had gone silent. She was the sun that had gone out. 

The last healer that came to see her right after her hands started shaking, had said she would just languish and die in one or two months, that there was no help to her anymore. She had just raised her chin and repeated their family saying,  _ Battaglias are fighters _ , and stated she would fight for her life until the last second, but had cried in Corvin’s arms after the healer left. 

He came to see her at least once every week. And then every other time when he needed to talk or just lay down and rest. He had spent countless nights lying down next to his sister, reading her a book, laughing at Pollux’s jokes, or just telling her about his day, until both of them fell asleep. Even sick like that, Chiara was calm and soothing; the water that put out his fire. She never failed to make him feel loved, and he tried to return that. 

“Hey Vin,” she said lowly as Corvin reached her bed and hugged her sitting, thin figure. 

“The hug is double from me and Cal,” Corvin whispered before he let go and moved to lay down beside her. He didn’t bother getting under the covers. 

“Why didn’t he come?” 

“I needed some alone sister time,” he replied as he took his boots and discarded them on the floor. He groaned at the feeling of the sheets and pillows, a welcome rest to his tired body and mind.

“What’s going on?” 

Corvin let out a low, bitter laugh.

“So much had happened today,” he mused, earning a puzzled expression from his sister.

“Tell me, then.”

So he did. He told her everything in detail. He told her about the prince from Zaeli, and the fact that their mother tried to marry him off to Pollux’s sister, the competition, Bella, and the job offer. He talked about who Bella was, since Chiara didn’t know. He told her it was Bella who had first given him his nickname, too, the one she called him now. Vin. Chiara listened carefully, and at the end she had her gossip expression on her face. Corvin supposed his misfortunes were good at least to entertain his sister. 

“So mom wanted you to marry Myla?”

“Yeah.”

“Pollux’s bitch sister Myla?” 

“That’s the only Myla I know.” 

“But you’re not, right? You can’t.” She said flatly, her brows raised in question.

“Of course not. As you so kindly put it, she’s a bitch.”

“Maybe that’s why mother wants her to be queen,” she joked, and Corvin wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He didn’t remember the last time he had heard Chiara make a joke. He stuck to the first, though, and his laugh came out easy and light.

“I guess she would like a bitchy company, how lonely she must be,” Corvin played along, and they both laughed, then stayed silent for a while.

Corvin turned his head to the side, and saw Chiara’s piano next to her bed, covered on a white sheet. He got up and stalked toward it. 

“I haven’t played in months,” he told her. It was true. He had moved his piano out of his sitting room, and hadn’t seen it since. 

“Do you want to play me something?”

Corvin smiled, already with something in mind. His sister’s favorite piece. A soothing, smooth tune they loved to hear whenever they felt sad. He pulled down the sheet in one move, letting it fall to the ground, and sat down. It took him a few seconds of running his fingers through the keys without making any sound for him to remember how the song started. He could already feel the humming of the music as he positioned himself to start, the peaceful humming that came when he created art. Chiara had fallen in love with it since she was young, taking on multiple instruments and painting. Corvin found he better felt the humming when he was fighting, and had dedicated more time to that; but every member of the royal family must know how to play an instrument, his mother had said, so Corvin picked the one that he could make sound like a battle cry if he wanted to.

Just as he pressed the keys and the tune started sounding out of the instrument, Corvin heard Chiara’s voice coming from his left.

“So this Bella girl,” she started, but didn’t continue.

“What about her?” 

“Are you in love with her or something?” Corvin scoffed.

“In love? I just saw her today.”

“Yeah. And called her beautiful and honorable and trustworthy as you explained who she was. Sounds like at least a crush to me.”

“Please. I like a girl that’s not you and you just assume I’m love?” He got a little laugh from his sister at that.

“You’ve never liked a girl that made your eyes shine like that when you talked about her.”

Corvin didn’t have a response to that, so he concentrated on playing and hoped Chiara would let it go. Apparently, she wasn’t eager to discuss it any more than he was, and when he looked at her again, she had come down from her half sitting position and now lay on her back, eyes closed and the smallest smile on her face. He lost himself in the music, then, letting his fingers move on their own as he felt his body relax and his mind clear. When the song was over, he played it again, and again, until he lost track of time. When he finally stopped, he looked over at Chiara and found her sound asleep in her bed. He grabbed his boots and walked barefoot to his bedroom. 

He thought he wouldn’t sleep that night, but slumber came easy to him as he took off his shirt and pants and left them on the floor, and his body found the comfort of his bed covers against his skin, and he slept dreamlessly through the night. 


	6. A good teacher

Getting into the castle was easy. Vin had kept his word and as soon as she said her name to the guard at the front gate, he accompanied her to where the prince was. Moelfire castle was build on top of one of the hills that made the front line of a mountain chain. Moelfire hill was the biggest, and so it had been chosen for the castle construction. The rest were used for agriculture, and most of the lands on top of them belonged either to the royal family or other families. The castle close was on the descent of the hill, and were made up of angled streets with tall, fancy houses. The city of Argenine was the biggest of the kingdom, and protected by the mountains which covered the castle’s back, with almost no space between castle and the woods covering them. From the castle gates, Bella could see the city spread all around, to the east, going into the margin of the Argenine river, close to where Bella lived, and north and south, where houses could be seen until Bella’s vision found the horizon. To her back, the west, the enormous wall of mountains stood tall, the city and the castle’s ever standing guardian. Making justice to it’s name, the castle was a tall structure made of a blue-tinted stone and with touches of orange glass on the top of it’s towers. As she walked around the outer parts of the castle, between it and it’s wall, she saw his the light shifted on the stones and glass, giving it movement. A castle made of fire to drive enemies away. Fire like the blue one she always saw burning on it’s prince’s eyes. It was only fitting, she thought. A fire castle for a fire king - future king, anyways.

She passed through gardens and squares, where the nobles walked about, but she knew she was getting to her destination when she saw a crowd of dresses of every color in one place. As the guards asked the swooning girls to make way, the curtain of girls revealed a small training center, with a sparring ring in the center, dummies to it’s right, an archery training area on the back, and a sitting area with what seemed to be a weapons locker etched to the castle wall beside an entry door to the left of the training ring. In it, she recognized Vin’s figure immediately. He wore tight leather leggings and a white linen shirt, and his blonde hair was up on a bun. He was sparring sword to sword with a very tall but young looking boy who had no shirt on, only black loose pants that matched his thick black curls of hair that stuck to his forehead from the sweat. Both were concentrated and had gleaming skin as their swords clashed against one another, their postures perfect. Bella wondered how long it would take her to get that good.

Behind them, a lean boy with more or less Bella’s height was practicing with his bow. Bella only saw enough of it to see him hit the target right in the center and take some steps back. The guard who had accompanied her interrupted her silent observation.

“Your highness! Lady Santori is here for you!”

Bella’s eyes widened at the way she was addressed, as a lady, and at Vin’s face as he spun around looking surprised. His face was blushed from the heat and training, the linen shirt sticking to his chest and giving anyone who was interested a look at his muscles.

“Bella!” He shouted at her as he walked out of the ring, the surprised look giving it’s place to a smile that spread beautifully across his face. He approached the sitting area and motioned for her to come over with his hand. Bella said a quick thank you to the guard and walked toward him. When she got close to him, he was sitting on a bench under an awning, using a cloth to dry away the sweat from his face.

“I didn’t expect you so soon,” he said, getting a bottle of water that sat on a corner table beside the bench. As she watched him gulp down some water, she tried to find an answer.

“I needed to… Not be at home. And now I’m also out of a job,” she tried, and he raised his eyebrows. Bella was scared that he would ask more, but he didn’t.

“Alright then, that means you’re accepting the job here?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” he mumbled, and as soon as it was out of his mouth, Bella heard footsteps behind her. “Po! This is Bella, she’ll be training with us. I’ll try to teach her a thing or two,” Vin said as Bella turned to face the tall boy. He had a charming smile on his face as he bowed his head.

“Hello, Bella. I’m Pollux Senmai. I’d kiss your hand but I assume you don’t want a sweaty boy touching you.”

Bella let out a little laugh and bowed her head as well. She had heard of the Senmais, a noble family responsible for the military forces of the kingdom. From what she remembered, they lived on the snowy mountains to the north, which meant this boy was a long way from home.

“Bella Santori,” she said simply, and the boy smiled at her again. Not a second later, another boy, the archer, joined them. He looked enough like Vin she could tell he was his brother, but other than their square jaw and their pointy nose, the boy looked nothing like her friend. His eyes were brown, as was his hair; long light brown hair that was tied into a bun just like Vin’s but with rebel thin curls escaping out of it. The tall boy leaned in and kissed the other prince, a quick, small kiss on his lips, and the boy, nicely dressed in a dark red cotton shirt and brown leggings complained about the sweaty situation as he pulled away and focused on Bella.

“You’re Bella,” he murmured, and Bella raised her brows at him.

“You’ve heard of me,” she stated, and he nodded and extended his hand. Suddenly, Bella remembered she should bow to royal family members, and started to, but the boy’s voice cut her off.

“Please, there’s no need. I’m Callum,” he said, and extended the hand further for Bella to shake. She took it, and he gave her the smallest smile as he said, “Maybe I can teach you a thing or two as well. If you’re interested in actually refined fighting, instead of what these brutes do for fun.”

Pollux protested, but Vin scoffed behind her and she could feel the heat of his body as he stood up close to her.

“There will be time for all the learning she wants later. Now let’s call it for today on the training.”

Pollux nodded, but Bella had a protest before they turned away to leave, and faced Vin to voice it.

“Wait, I’m not training?” She asked him, her voice confused and slightly irritated. He raised his brows at her.

“How are your ribs?” He demanded at the same time as he poked her bandaged ribs. She let out a cry of pain that had Vin speaking again. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. No training for you until you heal. You can watch me and Po train and try to learn something until then.”

Bella rolled her eyes at him, but knew he was right. She let it go and watched as the younger prince - Callum - and Pollux - his boyfriend, apparently - walk inside hand in hand.

“Well then what do I do around here?” A small smile from Vin.

“First, you’ll see your room.”

Vin nudged her to go in through the same door as Callum and Pollux had, and walked her around the large corridors of the blue stone castle. This, he told her, was the north wing. Where the training center, healer offices, personnel housing and weaponry were. His room, as well as the king and queen’s and Callum’s, was in the south wing, and the east wing was dedicated to the public; which meant it housed the Throne room, the ballrooms, and other public spaces. The west wing was the wing of the libraries, offices, and council rooms. As he spoke and showed her the million things to know about the Moelfire castle, Bella wondered why they hadn’t reached her room yet, since the personnel housing was on the wing they had come in through. It seemed as if they had crossed the entire castle, going through corridors filled with art pieces and tapestries, through rooms he pointed she should remember - north wing dining room, corridor to the throne room, corridor to the kitchen -, and up different flights of stairs , when he finally came to a stop in front of a big decorated wooden door with a guard up front.

“Robert,” Vin said as a form of greeting.

“Your majesty,” the guard greeted back as he opened the door for Vin and Bella to enter.

They walked into a sitting room with a small sofa, two armchairs and a fireplace to the left, decorated in red and golden, with old weapons on display on the walls, a few books piled up on a coffee table in front of the sofa, and two doors. One massive wooden door opposite to the one they came in through, carved with lions, two bands on each side, confronting each other. It was intricate and ancient; a beautiful, expensive piece of art.

“I’m guessing that doesn’t go into my bedroom?” Bella asks, more out of curiosity for what other beautiful things that door may guard than anything else. When looked at Vin, he was standing beside her with his arms crossed and a half smile on his face.

“No, that’s my room. That,” he pointed at the other door, to their right. “That one leads to your room.”

Bella looked at the regular, plain door for no longer than a second before turning to the carved one again.

“Obviously,” Vin continued, but she barely payed attention as she observed how the lions roared fiercely at each other. “I’ll show you around both, but you can’t live in mine,” he finishes with a smirk, but Bella only looked away from the door to raise a brow at him.

“It’s a pretty door,” she said simply, and shrugged. He smiled.

“I agree. But my favorite piece of art is in there.”

That sparked her interest, and she followed him as he walked to the door and opened it. And just like that, she was inside Vin’s room. It was decorated in red and golden as well as the sitting room, but a messy desk and scattered clothes and books around it made it clear it was a boy’s room. What really caught the attention, though, was a giant map tapestry hung on the right wall beside an armoire. Bella gravitated toward it automatically, and took her time to see how every detail had been painted onto it. A detailed map of Agros’ massive territory, with forests and animals painted on it, cities perfectly outlined, rivers that really seemed to flow if she moved her head to change the angle. It was indeed an amazing work of art. She turned to Vin to ask about it, and found him looking at her with a different look on his face. It was almost a dark one, but it faded in less than a second, and he started speaking without a word from her.

“This room belonged to king Zyriek, the first Battaglia king. He moved the capitol from Elerys to Argenine and had this very castle built seven hundred years ago. I found this room a long time ago while exploring. It was closed off, but I managed to squeeze through pieces of wood to come in, and fell in love with it. When I was fifteen, I asked for a renovation as a birthday gift, and moved here.”

Bella only nodded and observed again as he spoke. It must feel good to wake up and stare at the gigantic kingdom you’re destined to rule, she thought. To look at something to beautiful and know it will be yours one day.

“It’s incredible,” she murmured as she looked closer at Moelfire castle. It looked like actual fire was coming from the top of it’s towers. This must have been the work of the most talented artist at the time, a truly priceless piece. She fought the urge to touch it, turning to look at the rest of the room. Opposite to the wall of the map, was a door - which Vin clarified was his bathroom and she was free to use the bathtub in there, since hers only had a shower - and a desk. The wall opposite to the entrance had an enormous glass window, blue and orange glass swirling up to look like flames, and Vin’s bed was right under it, the tapestry and a corner table to one side, and a small eating table with a single chair to the other, still close to the window. On the entrance door wall, there was a fireplace, close to the desk, but not too close. Numerous books were piled on top of it’s frame.

“Have you never heard of shelves?” The question comes in a harsher tone than she intended, but it was still a valid one. Vin only chuckled.

“Yes, but those are either from the library or music sheets. I intend to return them to their homes someday.”

Bella shrugged, and wondered if it would now be her job to do that, but it was clarified to her that it wouldn’t be her job as Vin showed her the room she’d live in.

It was rather dull, just a bed, a desk near a small window, a small fireplace near the bed, an armoire and a door that let to a bathroom with indeed only a shower, and not a bathtub. While he showed her around the passageways for personnel he explained exactly what her job would be. Not a servant at all, she realized, but a spy, and his errand runner. She was to bring him breakfast - and bring enough for both of them so they may eat together every morning -, observe him train while she recovered (which was still up for discussion, since she wasn’t interested in waiting another day), make deliveries and pick things up for him from Argenine the rest of the day, and do anything else he needed. She was to be friends with servants in the castle, and learn what they whispered about so she could tell him. She was to help him gain political power within the kingdom. And first and foremost, she was to be loyal to him and only him. She promised on that; put her fist over her heart and said she’d be loyal, and meant it from the bottom of her heart. She already owed him so much, just from getting a generous job offer, and he even promised to train her, and more importantly, he was acting like a true friend, and she would appreciate that. How she would manage to do all the other things he wanted, though, was a mystery to her. But she would try her best.

Vin left her to settle and went to his room to get ready for a meeting. She used the rest of her morning to navigate the castle and learn her way around; which was proving to be a difficult task, until she found the company of Erica, Vin’s servant, who was more than happy to show her around and introduce her to the castle workers. She had lunch in the personnel housing wing, and by the end of it, she had made at least three friends - one of them was Erica, the lovely middle aged servant, and the other two were a pair of twin young servants, Leon and Leanna, who were very impressed she had earned such a trusted position with the prince. The twins were young and impressed by the nobles and royals, but they were sweet and people liked them. Bella decided it would be good to keep them close, and made it her personal mission to be nice to them and help with what they needed. They seemed to like her back.

A good hour after lunch, Bella went back to her room, to find the door to Vin’s sitting room unguarded. She came in and found Callum and Pollux sitting together in the loveseat. Callum had a book in one hand and the other hand on Pollux’s thigh; and the tall boy had his arm over his boyfriend’s shoulder, and the other hand held a piece of paper. They both looked up when he entered the room.

“Bella!” Pollux’s excited voice exclaimed. Callum only smiled lightly at her while giving her a nod. “Care to join us on our reading?”

Bella struggled for a bit with the words, mostly because she still didn’t know how to act around them; if she should speak freely, if they were to be trusted or befriended for information like the servants. She still didn’t know much about the relationships in this court, and it made her nervous.

“Well, actually, I was looking for Vin,” the words came out with difficulty, but they didn’t seem phased by it.

“I see where that nickname came from,” Callum says, causing Bella to raise her brows in question. “Chiara started calling him Vin a long time ago. I never understood where that had come from,” he explained. Bella did remember a little girl coming with Vin to the park a few times, but had never known that was princess Chiara. Much like she didn’t know Vin - Vin, as she started calling him since day one - was prince Corvin, heir to the throne of Agros. He gave her another small smile in response to what Bella assumed was an expression of clarification on her face, and spoke again. “Corvin is at the park near the north entrance. Do you know where it is?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly. It was the park they used to go to.

“You’ll find him in the lake,” he said with a polite smile and went back to his reading. Pollux still watched her, though, with a strange look on his face. Like she was a mystery he was trying to solve. Just as he saw that her attention had shifted to him, he put on a charming smile and went back to his paper. Bella said a quick thank you before she walked out of the sitting room.

* * *

 

The park was exactly as she remembered it. The tall heavy trees thrived in the summer, making the smaller ones dry down and expose the brown soil. She remembered playing hide and seek with Vin as kids, going up the trees to hide. Then, they were kids, clueless to what the real world held. Now, they were grown up, and he was in some sort of political race against his parents while Bella tried to support her own parents. It was a funny play of destiny that they would end up back here, Bella looking for him, again. She made her way through the trees easily, and found herself enjoying the quiet walk to the lake, going as far as feeling somewhat disappointed that it ended when she reached her destination. The lake was almost a perfect circle, safely guarded by the trees of the park, keeping out any prying eyes as well. Bella knew no one used the park in years, and it wasn’t even guarded by the royal guard anymore; it was indeed a perfect place to escape the always curious eyes of court.

At first, Bella didn’t see him. She saw a bag with some clothes over it close to the lake shore, and some movement in the water, but Vin only emerged a few seconds later, and kept swimming. Bella thought of interrupting, but chose to sit down and watch instead. Vin swam easily, sometimes staying on the surface, sometimes going down, but always moving, his golden skin catching the sun in contrast with the dark water of the lake. When he finally stopped and started making his way to the shore he waved at her. She waved back, and watched him as his body emerged from the water, his wet muscled bare chest shining in the sunlight. The sight made Bella feel something she couldn’t identify. He took most of the water from his hair before he sat down next to her, a smile on his face; that fire in his eyes was nowhere to seen. Maybe the water of the lake was how he put it out.

“Could have joined me,” are the first words out of his mouth; and Bella noticed his very tone of speaking was different. More like the boy who played with her, less like the grown up prince. But just as she opened her mouth to answer, her cheeks burned.

“I can’t swim, actually,” she told him, and hoped he wouldn’t laugh. He didn’t, but his brows shot up in surprise.

“Why not?”

“I guess I just never learned,” and in fact it had never been something in her thoughts before; but now that she saw him doing it, it seemed like such a simple thing for a person to be able to do, and even she found herself surprised at the fact that she never learned.

“Well, I can teach you, if you want.”

She did. She wanted to learn to swim and fight and to be a real warrior. Vin’s posture and his carefree way to speak did nothing to hide the fact that he was one. A warrior prince, from head to toe, with blue fire burning in his eyes. If the way he looked and spoke, how relaxed he was from swimming, was any indication, Bella would like to learn that too. Not only a valuable skill, but also a way to keep calm and have something to do in the days she wanted to escape.

“I’d like that, yes,” she said at last, getting a half smile from Vin. A silence followed; something Bella was starting to notice was common between them, but she found herself yearning to know more about him. To know everything she could about a friend she thought she had lost, but had been treating her like they had never been apart since they found each other again. “Who taught you?”

Just as the words left her mouth, a shadow took over his eyes, the relaxed stance slipping away. Bella regretted it immediately.

“My mother,” he whispered.

“I take it she wasn't a good teacher.”

He extended his feet out and pointed at them, showing a pair of scarred feet, from ankle to toe. Bella frowned and looked back at his face. The fire in his eyes was back, burning hotter than ever, and his jaw was tensed up.

“She put me in a pond as a kid, and if I couldn't swim, she'd break my toes or cut my feet. She said I needed to understand what would happen to me if I needed to know how to swim and couldn't.”

Bella felt tears pooling in her eyes, but held them in. Tears of sadness, because her friend, however rich he was, had never met parental love, but also tears of rage. Because he was a child, and his mother should protect him, and did the exact opposite. Bella wished she never found the queen alone in the halls of the castle; or else the instincts which screamed at her to make the woman pay could kick in, and that wouldn't end well for anyone involved.

“She's a bitch,” Bella murmured, the rage evident in her voice. Bella looked into his eyes and found another kind of fire burning and Vin observed her. A dangerous one that came from physical desire. She didn't know what to make of it, how she felt about it. She knew she felt something, but aside from the fact that she didn't even know she could like boys, any kind of relationship with Vin would be too complicated for them. She did not dwell on it, and looked away as quickly as she could, focusing her look on the lake ahead.

“If you ever had any doubt that I could be loyal to her and not you, you should know that's not possible. And not because of that,” she glanced at his scarred feet and forced herself not to wonder what other parts of his body his mother scarred too. Forced herself not to look. “But because you're my friend. And you have been a good one since the first moment you saw me again. And friends fight for each other.”

She felt a wet hand touch her jaw, and as Vin turned her face back toward him, she felt like she was staring into Vin’s very soul. Again the impression that the beast he kept caged inside himself was laid out bare in front of her came, and the beauty of his teared up blue eyes on her almost took her breath away.

“Thank you,” he whispered in a raw voice. Bella wanted to tell him he had nothing to thank her for, because that's what friends do, but she didn't. She nodded and let him hug her instead.


	7. A true friend

Corvin woke up to the sound of clutter, and opened an eye to find Bella picking something from the floor, the orange light from a small opening in his curtain showcasing her brown skin. Her dark wavy hair was cut shorter than his, and caught the piece of light that went through the blue glass, and shone in a bright blue color so beautiful Corvin wished that it was the actual color of it. He never had a problem with waking up early, but it never made him smile either. Until that moment.

“Good morning,” he murmured in a sleepy, raspy voice, only now actually awakening, and swallowed to diminish the dryness in his throat. Bella turned her head as she stood up with silverware in hand to look at him just as he propped himself up on his elbows, his covers sliding down his torso to his lower belly.

“Morning,” she grunted, and Corvin noticed her eyes lingering on his chest. He raised his brows. The day before, on the lake, Bella had looked and talked to him like she would do anything for him. Like she would go against his mother - her queen - if he asked. He had wanted to kiss her then, but she showed no interest and turned her head away quickly when he gave her any sign of his desire. Now, she seemed interested; attracted, even.

“Like what you see?”

He tried to make his voice sound charming, but it sounded ridiculous instead. His cheeks burned as Bella rolled her eyes and looked away, but he could swear she had blushed too.

“No,” she says, moving to his table to arrange thing on it. “Because what I see is a lazy prince who wants to stare at me from his bed instead of having breakfast while it’s still warm.”

Corvin couldn’t help but laugh at her harsh tone. He moved to get up, trying not to tempt her mood further.

“In a bad mood, are we? What, do you not like waking up early?”

He tried his best to sound like he was actually concerned about her, not just trying to piss her off, but she didn't seem to notice. The face she made almost made him laugh again. Who knew Bella Santori was grumpy in the mornings.

“Who likes waking up early?”

“I do,” he said simply, grabbing a shirt from his armoire. He managed to catch a glimpse of her eye roll before he put on a white linen shirt he always used for training.

“Well then why don't you wake up with the sun tomorrow morning and get your own breakfast?”

She opened the curtains as she said it, the bright sun blinding Corvin for a few seconds. He was laughing even before he could open his eyes and see properly.

“I could never imagine you were so grumpy,” he mused and laughed even harder at the angry face Bella pulled. He thought she was even more beautiful when she was annoyed with him. “Come on,” he pleaded. “If I got my own breakfast you'd be out of your job, right?”

She made a sudden move toward him and his immediate reaction was to flinch, waiting for the blow, but he heard a hissing sound, and opened his eyes to find bella retrieving her fist with a pained expression while pressing her side with her other hand.

“Shit,” she muttered, massaging the spot slowly.

“Still sore? Have you seen a healer?”

He moved close to her, but when he tried to lift her beige shirt to look at her injuries, she slapped his hand away.

“I’m fine, I just need some more salve to ease the pain.”

“We don’t even know if your ribs are broken,” he said with an incredulous tone. “You’re going to see a healer today.”

Bella rolled her eyes, but didn’t protest, only sat down and started eating her bread and cheese without him. He joined her quickly, and their breakfast was silent. Any attempts from him to start a conversation were quickly shut down, so all he had left to do was look at her. The bruise on the left side of her face had already started to fade away. It was now a weird shade of green, and not swollen at all - which was impressive, since it had been just two days since she had gotten it - and it let him see her whole face again. She had changed a lot since they were kids - not enough that he wouldn’t recognize her, but still a lot. Her face used to be round and delicate, the looks a high born lady had. Now she had a well defined jawline, her lips were fuller than they used to be, and her eyes were the only thing that remained the same, still big and brown; not hazel like Callum’s, but a darker russet shade. Her hair, a long, wavy mess of dark brown locks when they were kids, now looked thicker and straighter, and was short, only going as far as her jaw. Obviously, her body was completely different. Not just from when they were kids, but from most girls as well. While ladies of the court were either very skinny or just slightly curvy, Bella was muscled and powerful. Corvin knew she would make a great warrior in the future. He kept that in mind as they walked together to the training center of the castle where he forced her to just sit and watch, under a lot of protest on her end.

When they were done with training, Corvin took a shower and let Bella know that their work today would be rather limited. They went into town to get her proper attire, not just for a royal secretary, but also for a warrior, so she could train properly. She didn’t seem happy about it, but didn’t say anything either. He got her different shirts and pants - and she refused to get any skirts to go with the nice jackets -, simple fighting leathers, and two pairs of leather boots. She insisted she’d pay him back for all of that, but he was confident he’d make her forget about it. When they were leaving, he caught her staring at a stunning black dress made of sheer fabric, with embroidery in black and white covering strategic parts - mostly the middle and the bottom -  and black feathers going up the arms to the shoulders. It was an impressive work, made by the hands of an artist. He asked the owner of the shop about it, but Bella made it very clear she would never let him buy her something that expensive. He thought it best not to mention how much they actually spent that morning with all the clothing for every possible occasion they got - well, almost every possible occasion. She was very final about the dress, though, so Corvin let it go, even if he thought she would look beautiful in it.

They had lunch at a restaurant she pulled Corvin into, claiming they had delicious food and the absolute best wine in Argenine. She wasn’t right about the wine, but the food was indeed delicious, the pieces of meat were juicy and full of flavor, the roasted potatoes covered in different herbs from all parts of the kingdom. Corvin tried to imagine how that food would taste if Agros had access to herbs and spices from other lands as well, if more people were allowed into their borders to taste their foods and contribute with their own dishes. He was fairly distracted by those thoughts the rest of the afternoon, while they went a little outside of the city to buy Bella a horse - a feisty black Draft mare she named Azura - and rode to her house. She insisted they went back there to talk to her parents and get the rest of her things - apparently all she had was the backpack she had brought to Moelfire the previous day - so they did.

He wasn’t sure what he expected when he walked in, but was still shocked to see how much older Bella’s parents were. As they walked in, Corvin spotted the old, wrinkled - too wrinkled for his age - face of Klaus Santori, a thin and worn out person, sitting on a sofa in the small living-dining room combo. Bella's mother, Morgana, came from the kitchen to greet them. Corvin remembered her from the castle, but he hadn't noticed how much Bella took after her until that moment. Staring at the woman was like looking into Bella's future. She was strongly built, with a thin face and full cheeks, showing no cheekbone, only the well defined jawline. Looking into the future indeed, she carried Bella's hard expression, with wrinkles on her forehead and under her eyes, from the exact worried face Bella showed so much around him. Corvin wished once again he could have known earlier, could have helped them earlier. Maybe if he had, they'd be younger than that. Lighter.

You could barely tell that they were tired, though. Because their smiles were wide and welcoming as Morgana hugged Bella and Corvin, and Klaus was as cheerful as Corvin remembered.

“Bella!” His voice filled the room, every bit of happiness to see his daughter pouring out of him. “And you brought prince Corvin!”

“Hey Dad,” Bella said as she moved to sit beside him, the white cat with big blue eyes immediately jumping to her lap. It felt like a familiar situation, like they were truly happy to be together. Corvin didn't remember the last time he had felt like that around his parents. In fact, his parents were barely ever in the same room together, and when they were, they seemed to make an effort to make their children uncomfortable. Maybe they needed more family time so they could at least try to be like that.

“Sir Santori,” Corvin said, actually glad to be around the man who watched over him so much in his youth. He got close to Bella's father and shook his hand, still impressed by the changes he had gone through since Corvin last saw him.

“It's an honor to have you in our house, your highness,” he said, and Bella's mother echoed the sentiment. She pulled chairs for herself and Corvin to sit, which he did, and observed as the family fell easily into conversation.

“So now you have a job at the castle?” Morgana asked Bella, who nodded and smiled faintly are Corvin.

“Vin was kind enough to offer me.”

“Please,” Corvin protested, “there was no kindness involved. It was the least I could do.”

“You're going to be a kind king,” was Morgana's answer, as she squeezed Corvin's hand.

“I hope so, lady Santori.” His smile was genuine.

“I should get my things,” Bella stood up, the cat tangled in her arm, as she spoke. “Get settled at Moelfire as soon as I can.”

“I'll help you,” said her mother, and stood up, followed by Corvin, who was immediately shut down and told to sit again. If Bella's spirit took after her mother's like her appearance did, it was best he obeyed, so he sat. Corvin looked silently at the skinny figure of Klaus, a shadow of the man he once was. Corvin wondered if he was like that because of what happened or because he never tried to get better, to do more. Did he think his life was over?

The man's voice interrupted his thoughts, and only then Corvin realized he had been staring at him.

“Go on, say it,” Klaus blurted out, an irritated tone to his voice.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. You're just so different.”

Corvin probably looked like a little kid caught disobeying, if the look of amusement that took over Klaus’ features was any indication.

“It's alright, boy,” he said, and sounded exactly like he did when Corvin was a child. And, thinking about that time, Corvin's mind went elsewhere. To a question he had been asking himself for the past three days. He frowned as he looked back at Bella's father.

“Sir, if it's not too indelicate of me, could I ask you something?”

Klaus looked taken aback for a second, maybe at his tone, but the light expression came back to his face as soon as it went away.

“Of course, your highness. It's no trouble at all.”

“You never told Bella who I am. Why?”

He did nothing to hide the surprise in his face, as he looked Corvin up and down and clasped his hands together.

“For many reasons. One,” he started, a contemplative expression taking over. “You were her first friend, and I didn't want her telling anyone she was friends with the prince, it wouldn't be safe for her. Two, she was an impressionable girl. Maybe she'd get ideas about marrying you. Three… you didn't seem eager to tell her either. Even as a kid, I think you liked having a normal friendship. So I figured if you wanted her to know you'd tell her. And you never did.”

Corvin's eyes widened as he nodded. It was true. Bella was his one normal friend, the one friend he had who didn't talk to him because he was the prince, because they thought it would give them some advantage over the rest of the nobility. Bella liked him, thought he was funny, and kept inviting him to play day after day, with no clue of his position. So he never told her, because he never felt the need to, never wanted her to change. Maybe that's why he was so quick to trust her again. Because even after she found out he was the crown prince two days ago, all she wanted was to be his friend. Corvin smiled faintly.

“I never did,” he agreed, and found Klaus looking at him with a fond look when he looked up.

“She likes you too, you know,” he said, making Corvin choke in his own saliva. Klaus laughed.

“I -I don't know what you mean, sir,” Corvin got out with difficulty.

“Of course you do,” and as he spoke, the laughter was still clear in his tone. “You two like each other. You did when you were kids, you do now. It's funny how some things never change.”

Corvin looked at him with what must have been fear in his eyes, because the laughter and lightness drained away and Klaus was serious again.

“Corvin,” he started, and Corvin's heartbeat picked up at the serious tone and the intimacy in the fact that Bella's father was calling him by his name. “I saw my daughter look at someone like that only once, and she had her heart broken. Because she fights for the people she loves, and she was left in pieces when the person she loved didn't fight for her too. That's why she took the job you offered her, to get away from a heartbreak. I don't want that to happen again. All I ask of you is that you don't get too close to her if you're just going to let her down.”

Corvin got the meaning behind it. If he was going to start a romance with Bella and tell her they couldn't be together because he was the prince. His heart sank at the impression Klaus had of him, thinking he would ever lie to Bella like that.

“I could never let her down, Sir,” Corvin said in his prince voice, and put his fist over his heart, trying to be as reassuring as he could. The smile on Klaus’ lips reminded him of Bella.

“I believe that. But if it comes down to it, know that she'll fight for you, boy, and that she deserves someone who will fight for her.”

Corvin was carefully considering his words when an idea dawned on him and he got up hurriedly. He told Klaus he had to go somewhere, assuring that he'd send someone to help Bella get her things to the castle, and questioned himself all the way to his destination. He asked himself many times if he was ready for that, but as Klaus’ words replayed in his head - a heartbreak, a person she fought for and didn't deserve her -, Corvin forgot his station, forgot his own questions about it, and entered the store they were in that morning.

 

* * *

 

“Three weeks?!”

Bella's voice was a mix of irritation and defiance as she stared down the healer, a woman around her forties named Zinnia who treated Corvin whenever he was injured in training. She was used to this kind of behavior from the people she treated (Corvin hated to admit it, but he had acted the same toward her once or twice), so she was unfazed as she answered Bella.

“Yes. Three weeks without training.”

“I'm not spending three weeks without training! I need to learn!”

“You can learn by observing like you said you did today.”

Bella's face was taken by a scowl, and as she was about to say something, Corvin raised his hand.

“What about swimming? Can she swim?” He asked the healer. Even if she couldn't train, maybe doing a lighter exercise would help her keep quiet and fit until then.

“In one week,” Zinnia says, nodding to him. “And no hard work until then, either.”

Corvin smiled, satisfied with himself that he had that idea, and turned to Bella.

“One week of rest, and then two weeks of swimming lessons until you can train again. Sound good?”

Bella looked at him for a while, considering. She was still pouting as she crossed his arms and huffed out a breath.

“Fine,” she said at last, and Corvin smiled at her before he thanked the healer and accepted the materials Bella would need for the next few weeks: bandages, an oil to ease the pain, and a salve to help her heal.

He didn't let Bella carry them back to her room, which turned into her giving him an earful on the walk back, complaining about the healer, the time she'd have to stay put, and the fact that Corvin thought she needed him to carry things for her. Corvin found it rather amusing, but tried his best not to show it and tempt her mood further.

By the time they got to her room, with cases of clothes and other belongings, she had calmed down. Until she saw what sat on her bed, that is.

“What is this, Vin?!”

Corvin took a deep breath, and repeated the words he had rehearsed in his mind countless times until that moment.

“I know you said you didn't want me to buy it,” he started, but she didn't let him finish.

“Exactly! So why did you? Is that what you went away to do when I was getting my things at home?”

“Yes. But let me explain-”

“No! This is expensive, Vin! I don't have the money to pay you back for it!”

“You don't have to, Bella.”

He tried to keep his voice calm, the whole rehearsed routine going away at the sight of her. A mix of feelings passed through her eyes each second, and he knew he had made the right decision.

“What do you mean? Of course I'll-”

“No, Bella. It's a gift. You love this dress. I can see it in your eyes. So I got it for you. Because I wanted you to have it.”

He hoped she caught the meaning behind his words. That he wanted to show her he would take her by the arm and show her to the world, if she wanted. That he wanted to be with her, and fight for her. Even if they had been reunited for a short period of time, he didn't care, because it felt right. It just felt like…. Like it always had. Easy and perfect. Whenever they were together. The dress was a gift for her, to show her his intentions. Of being her best friend, and more. And everything she wanted him to be.

“Vin, I can't-”

“You can. It's yours. Everything we bought today is yours, and you owe me nothing.”

She looked like she was going to fight him, but seemed to forget about it when she looked back at the dress and lingered.

“You didn't have to.”

Her voice was merely a whisper as she said it, and Corvin couldn't help but smile widely at the beautiful woman before him, who stood speechless at a gesture so simple as a dress. When her big brown eyes looked at him again, Corvin felt something deep in his soul, a small tug that told him Chiara might not be as wrong as he thought at first. Klaus’ words once again filled his head. _It's funny how some things never change._ Bella's eyes hadn't. And if she looked at him now the same way she looked at him before…

“You're a true friend, Vin,” she said before Corvin could finish the thought.

“Oh,” he blurted out, taken by surprise. A true friend. Right. He reminded himself he was, and would always be her friend, above anything else. And if that was what she wanted, he’d be happy to be her friend. “Of course, Bella. Whatever you need.”

She hugged him, and he took a second to catch up on what was going on. They had hugged countless times before, but even when they were kids, the gesture always came from him, and she wasn't always reciprocating. He smiled again as Bella's strong arms tightened around his waist, her head finding a place to rest comfortably on his shoulder. He couldn't help but think that they fit perfectly together as his own arms circled her neck and his lips moved on their own volition to plant a kiss on her head.

Only three days had passed, and Bella had already changed everything. Stirred things he thought he'd never think about again, made him talk about things he didn't feel safe telling anyone else. Corvin wondered what type of bond this was, so strong within him. Not a friendship one, that much he was sure of, as even if Pollux was one of his closest friend, it never felt like that. It wasn't pure love either, because he knew he loved people; he loved his siblings, and even Pollux, who made Cal so happy. No, this was a bond that ran deep and old in him, forged when Bella and Corvin were children; it wasn’t severed by the years they were apart, like a bond of passion would, but rather shaped into something else entirely, something new that Corvin had never felt for anyone before. He almost mustered up enough courage to ask her if she felt it, too. Almost.

When Corvin went back to his room, he couldn't fall asleep. Even after a long bath and a decent amount of reading a boring romance book Cal had told him was absolutely awful (and therefore Corvin's type for sure), the events of the day and the questions that came along with them didn't leave him at peace. Who had broken Bella's heart? Was that why she seemed so hesitant towards him? What exactly what the bond he felt between them? Did she feel it as well?

So many questions, he didn't even know how to begin looking for their answers.

He didn't know what time it was when his body gave up and sleep finally claimed him.


	8. A lover that went wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Bella searches for closure on her history with Rhea, Corvin remembers his own past and path to acceptance.

Bella woke up to the sound of something knocking on her window. She shook her head to try and drive sleepiness away, and opened her eyes slowly to see Rhea’s curly hair shadowing her face outside. It was early still, maybe 10, and the moon still shone bright and high in the skies. She dragged herself out of bed and opened her window, eyelids fighting to stay open. 

“They're fighting again,” Rhea whispered. Her parents.

To the outside world, Hagan and (mom's name) Ferrara were a happy couple, happily raising their children together. But inside their home, the truth came out. They hated each other, and couldn't bear being in the same room together. Rhea had come to Bella in the night before, seeking an escape from the endless shouting and cursing that took place in her home. Bella didn't mind. 

She made an effort to smile and got out of the way so Rhea could enter. Her small, curvy body once had a hard time going through Bella's window, but at this point she did it graciously, like it was no effort at all, and went straight into Bella's arms. 

She kissed her… something, in the forehead and hugged her tight. 

“I can't take it anymore,” Rhea got out, and started sobbing. Bella rubbed soothing circles in her back, and tried to walk with her to the bed. She lay with Rhea and held her through her tears, until she finally calmed down. 

“It's alright,” Bella promised her. “You'll be out of there in just a few years.” 

Rhea looked up at her, big round eyes still red and swollen from crying, her hair a beautiful curly mane all around her face.

“Then we'll live together, right?” 

Bella's heart tightened. She couldn't promise that. Young as they were, Bella knew that the privilege of being with someone of the same sex was a luxury few could afford… usually the last child of a rich family. With a lot of money and no obligation to keep the bloodline going. That was not Bella's case. Not even Rhea's, as her mom constantly reminded her, it was up to her to take their family up the social ladder, make them nobles. 

But with Rhea looking at her like that… like Bella was the beginning and the end. Like they could truly grow old together. With the beautiful face of the only person Bella knew she could love - and who could love her back - so close she could feel her breath against her face, Bella convinced herself that they could do anything if they did it together. She smiled weakly. 

“Yeah. Then we'll be together, just the two of us.” 

She kissed Rhea and hoped that if she wanted it enough, their wish would come true.

 

***

 

Bella hated working for Vin sometimes. Most days, it was fine. A normal job, with a normal boss. Unlike her first morning as his employee, Vin was never asleep again when she got there. Instead, she always walked into his bedroom with a tray of food in hand and found a fully clothed prince ready to help her carry it to the small table in the corner. They talked - well, he talked about what his appointments for the day were and what she was to do while he was away. One thing was clear, though: when he wasn't on his princely duties -which were mostly talking to the ladies of the court all day and participating on events his mother organized to gather nobles and funds for the crown - she was to stay close to him, observing who watched him and reported back to his mother. Bella had already recognized at least three guards going back to queen Victoria's office right after their shifts, and two servants. The rest of her work was easy enough; delivering letters and getting merchandise for him. She mostly liked it, since it was similar to her old job (with the small difference that now she had a horse to carry things for her) and it had a fun aspect of following people around without being noticed and pretend to be people's friends so that she could hear the castle gossip. The latter also gave her control over the gossip and kept her away from any comments on her relationship with Vin. A few complaining sessions of how demanding it is working for a royal and she was completely fine. Her favorite aspect of her job, though, was the company. She was around Vin a lot, which meant getting to hear about his adventures around the castle and the kingdom. Secret caves and incredible places he had been to, the job he had as a patroller at the border when he was 14, and how it had changed his vision on their current border closing, seeing poverty so up close. How he had met Pollux, Callum's boyfriend, during that job and thought he had feelings for the boy until they got to Moelfire and Pollux met the younger prince. Vin had done so much during their years apart, lived so much, and a week of working alongside him and listening to his tales was more than enough for her to learn to enjoy her new job. Most days. 

Today was not one of them.

After training, when she got to  their shared sitting room, which seemed to also be shared with Callum and Pollux - the weird boyfriend who looked at Bella the same way a hawk observed a rat - since they were always around there reading books, drinking wine or discussing something Bella had no interest in, Vin had handed her a letter and told her to deliver it as soon as she could. The envelope said it was addressed to Hagan Ferrara. One of the biggest merchants in the city, her former employer, and Rhea's father.

If Bella was being completely honest with herself, she had done a good job of forgetting about her - about everything that had happened. Vin kept her busy during the day, Cotton kept her distracted at night with snuggles and playing. She hadn't had much time to stop and think about Rhea, or how her heart still felt empty and sore. Now, she did. And she thought about it as she made her way across the city to Hagan's office. 

Every possible scenario played in her head - a miserable Rhea, still sad and bruised, too distracted by heartbreak to work, or a happy one, with her betrothed in Hagan's office, kissing him and ignoring all the accounting work she had to do. The latter got her too close to crying, so she made herself stop thinking about it altogether, convincing herself that Hagan would be there, so nothing would happen. They would act normal, they would say hello, Bella would hand Hagan the letter and leave. Like nothing ever happened. Like they never happened. 

She was still repeating it to herself as a mantra when she walked into the building, and as she walked into Hagan's office, only to have her heart stop cold in her chest. For when she entered the room, Hagan was nowhere to be seen, only a small girl with dark skin and a mane of curly hair covering her face, until she looked up to face Bella, and her dark skin lightened. 

 

***

She knew this would happen. In all her time with Bella, and living with her parents, deep down she never had actual hopes of having a happy married life. When her mother, after years of saying she would do so, came into her room announcing she had found Rhea a “nice noble boy to marry,” she already knew she would say yes. Because that's what her parents worked so hard for, and that's what she had to do to help them have time for themselves without having to work day and night when they were older, so she'd do it. She would marry someone she could never love so her parents could finally be happy. She had planned to tell Bella about it, to sit down and talk to her and ask her to understand. Ask her to be with Rhea, even if in secret. They could still be happy together, maybe her future husband wouldn't mind. 

But that was three months from the Royal Guard test and when Bella wasn't working, she was training, and in the little time they had together she was always tired. So Rhea decided she'd be supportive, help, and then talk. But of course that wouldn't work out. She hadn't bothered to tell her twin brother, in the late nights she spent in his room crying about marrying someone she didn't love (someone who wasn't Bella), that her girlfriend hadn't yet heard the news that all their dreams of being together and having jobs men had wouldn't become true. 

She would never forget Bella's face. How the deception hurt so much more than the punches and kicks. How she saw in her face she would never forgive Rhea for it. 

Rhea didn't understand, exactly. She had always thought Bella also knew they wouldn't really be together, that she wasn't so hopeful of their future. It was at once confusing, hurtful and impossible. And then nothing else made sense. How she spoke and looked at the prince, how well they knew each other, how the next day she disappeared to Moelfire and accepted a job she didn't want with Prince Corvin. Rhea had spent weeks avoiding meeting her betrothed, working day and night even when her father wasn't, trying to get any glimpse of how Bella was doing from the delivery boys who went into the castle, drinking at night and imagining Bella was still there. 

Everything still hurt. And it hurt when Bella walked into her father's old office, now hers, and just stood at the door. 

***

“I'll come back later,” Bella said, hands shaking. She turned to leave.

“Bella, no,” Rhea's small, familiar voice, was broken and sad; like it was when she came to Bella at night, running from her problems at home. Against everything she had thought the night she found out, she wanted to comfort her, kiss her pain away. She turned back. It took every bit of strength she had not to run to her small, beautiful love. Vin's image flashed in her mind. The hiccup in her heart when he looked at him with fire in his eyes. 

“Shit,” she muttered, because it was too much. Two images and two feelings colliding, fighting for dominance inside her. 

She was most definitely fucked. Not in a good way. 

Rhea looked hurt, but stood up. 

“Don't you think we should talk?” 

Bella nodded. They should. Rhea gestured for her to sit. She did. 

“I'm sorry,” Rhea said, still in that voice. Tears pooled in Bella's eyes. “I really am.”

“Why?” 

That was all she could ask. 

“Because I thought I could talk to you and we could be happy even if we both married someone else.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I mean… I was going to ask you. To keep it a secret even if I married, and even if you married.” 

Bella thought about it. She had never really thought they would publicly be together, but now… now Vin paraded with her around the castle, never bothering to hide his charged looks, never treating her like an employee, never telling people he had feelings for her, not never needing to. She had spent weeks without looking over her shoulder when she was around him, and even if she didn't quite know if she could like men, she had someone have feelings for her and not need to hide it, and now that she had that…

No matter how she still loved Rhea - and probably always would love her - it was impossible to go back to that after knowing how it felt to be so unafraid to get caught. Being together in the dark would never be enough, and now Bella realized that. And she realized that's exactly what had hurt her so much. 

“Did you even try to get out of it?”

“No,” Rhea said, her voice coming back to normal. Bella nodded. She didn't have anything else to say. 

“Vin - Prince Corvin sent this to your father. He expects an answer by the end of the week.” She slid the letter over and stood up. 

“Are you going to consider it?” Rhea's voice said, so hopeful. Bella's heart broke once more. 

“There's nothing to consider,” Bella's voice sounded as broken as she was. This was goodbye. 

“Bella, please.” 

“I forgive you,” Bella said truthfully, turning to leave for good, “but I can't hide in the shadows for the rest of my life.”

“Are you in love with him?” 

She half turned to look at Rhea, tears in both their eyes. 

“I don't know. It doesn't matter.” 

She caught exactly the moment Rhea's expression turned into anger. 

“Oh, but it does. You see, Bella, you were fine with hiding until you saw him. What did he do? Give you jewelry and promise that you'd be a rich princess? Tell you he would love you more than I do? Did he give you a pretty little castle?” 

Bella turned fully and bared her teeth at Rhea, anger now taking her as well. 

“You don't know shit about Vin. Just like you don't know shit about me. If you're so worried about competing with him for who loves me better, he just won.” Her voice was more a hiss than anything. How dare she imply that Bella's looking for money? “I'm not the one engaged to someone because of their money and status.”

Rhea gasped, offended. Bella scoffed. 

“Ah, so now you're hurt?” 

“I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that.” 

Bella didn't answer. 

“Bella, please. I'm so sorry. Can we just… not do this anymore?” 

“I didn't want to do it in the first place.”

A single tear fell from her eye. Bella's own eyes were already dried up. 

“I'm sorry.” 

“It's fine. I'm going back to the castle.” 

This time, when Rhea called her name, she didn't turn back. 

It didn't take long for tears to pool up in her eyes again after she left. She went around the city disguising her tears as best she could, but ended up in the park, sitting against a tree, crying, screaming, and so utterly alone.

No one understood her; no one could. She was hurting from the loss of one love, while another one battled for her attention, one she didn't think possible before. It made no sense, and she had no one to talk about it with. She didn't even know if what she felt for Vin was really romantic, or if she was trying to make herself forget Rhea and the happiness they could have had. Everything was too much. 

When she finally stopped crying, the sun was already setting, and she walked back to the castle, pulling Azura along beside her. The mare seemed to sense her mood, because she was patient in a way she never was, and walked slowly beside her new owner. It was the smallest of comforts, but a comfort nonetheless.

 

***

“Bella, is that you?!”

Vin's voice came pouring out of his open bedroom door as soon as Bella opened the door to the sitting room. It sounded as if he was doing something in there, his various weapons clanking against each other. 

“Yeah,” Bella answered. She didn't want to talk, so she just made her way to her room, shoulders hunched, defeated as she was. 

“Where have you been? What happened?” 

His voice was closer now, as he was standing at the door and started making his way to her, probably a reaction to the expression she must have been wearing. 

“I don't want to talk about it.” 

His hand held her forearm, but without actually making any pressure. In fact, Bella had the impression he had only touched it lightly, and it was enough to make her stop.

“Come on. What's wrong?” 

“I don't want to talk about it,” she said again, more firmly this time. 

“Okay then. Put on swimming clothes.” 

Bella frowned. Why was he asking her to put on a bathing suit and what did that have to do with anything?

“What for?” 

“Something I do when I don’t want to talk about it.” He made air quotes at  _ ‘don't want to talk about it,’ _ making it seem like he knew exactly what Bella was feeling. He gave her a boyish smile and squeezed her forearm lightly before letting go and returning to his room. When she walked into her bedroom, Bella already felt better. 

 

***

Bella looked beautiful in her bathing suit. It was a black tight shirt and shorts that he had picked out himself, not thinking at all about how incredibly it would show off her muscled body, but only of how she loved everything black. Such a good choice. 

He guided her into his bedroom, getting a confused and outraged expression from her. He laughed. 

“Relax. You'll see.” 

He pulled on the huge tapestry on the wall beside his bed - a beautifully drawn map of Agros - to reveal the secret passage hidden behind it. He pushed the exact right rock needed to make the door appear, and then slid it open. 

The hidden passage was something he had found as soon as he had opened this room to live in it. The first time him and Callum walked into it, they had spent hours and hours exploring every inch of the room, and the very next day he had ordered the guards to take out the barriers against the door of the sitting room, and the maids to clean up the room and transfer his things to it. He was touching the recently cleaned tapestry when he accidentally pressed against that very rock that popped open a sliding door to a tunnel. He had followed it and called Cal immediately to explore what he had found. It was a truly marvelous experience he had with his brother, as were all the other memories he had in the place at the end of the tunnel. This was his and Cal's place, and his absolute favorite in the world. 

As he guided Bella through the tunnel and into the clearing, he saw her expression shift between confusion and wonder and joy, and he was delighted to watch it happening. When she saw the clearing with the pool and the gazebo with his piano, she smiled in a way he had never seen before. He wanted to make her smile like that again and again, every day. 

“What is this?” She asked, as if her eyes were deceiving her. The tunnel led to an opening on the castle wall to the woods on the mountain immediately behind Moelfire, except it didn't open to the woods at all. It opened to a clearing right at the edge of the woods, surrounded by trees and rocks and the foot of the mountain in the back. He had gone up to the castle wall once to check, and all he saw was woods. Trees, trees and more trees, and no sign of a clearing at all. Corvin smiled as he answered her.

“It's my magical place.” 

They walked together to the gazebo, and with every step she took, Bella tried to drink in every single detail of her surroundings. She seemed particularly interested in the candles floating on glass bowls in the pool, always lit. She stepped onto the gazebo and ran a hand over his piano, an immense black instrument, always clean despite it's location.

“This is all beautiful. Did you just find all this?”

“Callum and I renovated the gazebo and made the deck. We also put those candles there,” he pointed at them, and marveled in Bella's shocked expression. 

“You did this?!” 

He smiled.

“We did. We also brought the piano.” 

“Which one of you plays?” 

“I do. Cal plays the flute.”

“Classic,” she muttered, and ran a hand over the piano again. Corvin took it as a silent request and sat down. The tune he played was calm but lively, and not at all what he actually enjoyed playing - which varied between sad, melancholic songs to violent ones - but Bella seemed to like it; the perfect recipe to kill her bad mood once and for all. She leaned against the piano and looked over at the pool, mesmerized for a second. He watched her without any shame, taking his time with every aspect of her. The corner of her lips as she smiled, the candles now producing a faint golden glow on the brown skin over her cheekbones, her muscles shifting beneath her skin. He admired her beauty, got drunk on it, appreciated it-

“Stop staring, it’s creepy,” her voice was more playful than anything, the smile still on her lips. 

“Sorry.” He concentrated on his fingers as he approached the end of the song, and kept his eyes fixed on them while he played, not being shaken for a second by the feeling of being watched. “Now who’s creepy?”

She laughed, a glorious sound. He had to lift his gaze to watch it. She was a golden and brown queen in her magical candle-lit realm, her hair now filtering the light and making it seem like she wore a crown. 

“You don’t have to make me look away to look at me,” he told her. It was true. 

Bella had made Corvin more confused than anything these past weeks, often showing interest in him, often pretending like she had never so much as looked at him twice. Now, though, he understood. She hadn’t been ready for it - for him. Maybe she still wasn’t ready, and that was okay. He could be patient. 

“Okay,” was all she said after the song ended. 

Vin stood up and took off his linen shirt to get into the pool. He stopped at the end of the small deck Cal and him had built and extended his hand to her. She shook her head and gestured for him to go ahead. With a shrug, he did, one leg after the other, and let the warm water soak his very bones, wash everything away. As he emerged, he found Bella standing where he had before.

“How is it?”

He considered, running a hand through his hair.

“It’s always the temperature I need.” 

Bella made a face as if that made no sense, but got into the pool nonetheless. 

“Ah. I see what you mean,” she said, and Corvin wondered if she felt a different temperature than he did. He touched her arm lightly to check, and the temperature seemed the same. He dropped it. 

“Feel better already, do you?” He asked, a way to pursue a more practical subject than the debatable temperature of a pool he knew to be magical.

“I saw my ex today,” Bella blurted out and immediately seemed to regret it. Corvin felt realization rush through him. She had accepted his job offer to avoid her broken heart, Klaus had said. She used to work for Hagan Ferrarra. it seemed obvious to him now that she would confront exactly what she was running from when going back to see her former employer.

“I’m sorry,” he said, still trying to find the best way to address the situation without pushing Bella away. “He’s Hagan Ferrarra’s son, isn’t he?” 

He remembered the boy, yelling at the captain to stop the unfair fight Bella was being put through and not being heard. Vin wondered what would cause them to break up when they had seemed fine before the fight. 

“Not him,” Bella said, to his surprise. “His twin sister.” 

“Oh.”

He was stunned for a second, not really knowing what to say. Thankfully, he didn’t have to say anything, as she went on.

“She’s engaged. To some noble boy who will get her family up in the social ranks.” 

“Shit. I’m sorry.” Corvin said, and was awarded with a small smile from Bella. 

“It’s alright,” she said, with a forced shrug. His hand found its way to her forearm once more, his knuckles brushing against her skin. 

“No, it’s not. Someone breaking your heart is not alright. But you will be, eventually,” he told her, hoping it was true. “You’ll be alright.” 

It seemed like that was exactly what she needed to hear, as she pulled his hand until they were at the edge of the pool, sitting down next to each other, and put one of her arms around his waist. He pulled her close with his own arm over her shoulders, a movement so natural to his body that he was astonished. 

“Were you ever in love?” 

Her voice was small, like she was looking for a confirmation. He knew what she wanted to hear.  _ Yes, and I survived, I’m okay. _ But he couldn’t give her anything other than the truth.

“I think I got close, once.” She pulled away a little to look at him, eyes watery. “His name was Sam. He was also working at the patrol post at the border, back when I worked there. We spent a few months together. It wasn’t serious, but I got to know him and…” 

He trailed off, tears starting to form in his own eyes. Sam was… everything his 16 year old self wanted. Sweet and kind, but rebellious at heart. Being with him had taught Corvin to not care one bit about status or money. With him, every day was an adventure. And he had run away from it, scared of how he desperately wanted not to be Corvin Battaglia, prince of Agros; of how he just wanted to disappear to an adventure with Sam, and just be Corvin. He had gotten so close to actually loving the boy, he had packed up and left. He would regret that for the rest of his life.

“I was too much of a coward to let myself fall for him,” Corvin went on. “I don’t want to make the same mistake again.” 

He looked at her then, as intently as he could, a clear message.

“So you like boys,” she said, once again with a small questioning tone. 

“Yes.” 

“And you like girls.”

He looked her over and gestured to their general position, tangled up with half their bodies in the water.

“Well, yes.” 

“Oh,” she said as her expression shifted to something else. “Do you think… I could like both? Do you think I could just stop loving her, and be with someone else?” 

“You can like whoever you want, Bella,” he said firmly, and then shifted to a softer tone. “As for not loving her anymore… I don’t know. I don’t think it’s that easy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t love someone else.”

She considered it, and then nodded. 

“Thanks.” 

“Sure.” 

She came closer again, squeezing his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of it, smelling her hair for a few seconds, and lifted his head when he heard steps behind them.

“Don’t we look cozy,” Po said, coming over with Callum by his side. He took off his shirt - as he often did at any given opportunity - and discarded it on the gravel as he sat down beside Corvin. Cal got there a while later, and handed cups of wine to all three of them.

“Your favorite,” he told Corvin.

“You mean _ your  _ favorite,” Po said. 

“It’s the same wine, Pollux,” Cal retorted, rolling his eyes. He sat down beside Po, getting into the exact same position as Bella and Corvin. “So what’s the subject?” 

“Broken hearts,” Corvin said. Bella nodded. 

“Well I’ll drink to that,” Pollux raised his glass and proceeded to do just that. 

Bella let out a small laugh and looked intently at Corvin. He held her gaze. 

“We’ll be okay,” she whispered, and seemed to believe it. He touched his cup with hers in cheers. At that moment, he believed it too.

“Yes we will.” 

They drank. 


End file.
